Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/topics/public-safety/page/2/)
At the request of District Attorney Todd Spitzer, police chiefs and the Sheriff are working on a policy for all departments to uniformly handle the new state law that creates transparency in law enforcement discipline records, but is opposed by many police unions.
Orange County’s new District Attorney, Todd Spitzer, said during his swearing-in ceremony Monday night there will be sweeping changes at the prosecutor’s office.
Many Orange County cities are struggling to maintain budgets that keep, or minimally cut services and employees, while trying to keep up with growing law enforcement and fire pension spending.
The year-end meeting featured goodbyes to supervisors Todd Spitzer and Shawn Nelson, criticism of the all supervisors over the deaths of more than 200 homeless people this year, and questions from the incoming DA about wiretapping and alleged conflicts of interest related to a contractor hired by the outgoing district attorney and illegal surveillance of elected officials by a police union’s law firm.
The Pen-Link system allows law enforcement to monitor, store, and analyze phone conversations and internet communications for investigations, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
At least three more OC sheriff officials knew in 2016 and 2017 of illegally recorded telephone calls between jail inmates and their attorneys, in addition to a sheriff investigator’s knowledge in 2015 of such recordings, according to evidence presented Wednesday in Superior Court.
Peter Morales, 35, brandished a pocket knife in front of the Orange City Council and was arrested Tuesday night during a heated public discussion on how to fill a council vacancy.
Former Fullerton Police Chief David Hendricks and Captain Thomas Oliveras have been charged with fighting paramedics and resisting and obstructing officers, according to a Friday District Attorney news release.
The state-mandated forum brought out more than two dozen public speakers who supported and opposed the Sheriff’s Department’s involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The testimony raised questions about why, when sheriff and DA officials learned of attorney-client recordings in 2015, they apparently did not examine the issue further and potentially stop the systemic recording of hundreds of protected calls.