Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/topics/public-safety/page/2/)
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.
Incoming DA Todd Spitzer outlines his plans as he prepares to become Orange County’s top law enforcement official in January.
Spitzer said he plans to step up prosecutions of hate crimes, will meet regularly with communities that feel they’re treated unfairly by law enforcement, will not evaluate prosecutors based on conviction rates, and will hold police officers and prosecutors accountable.
Spitzer was up by 5.8 percentage points in the latest ballot count. There was no word of a concession by his opponent, incumbent DA Tony Rackauckas.
Barnes, who has so far received 57 percent of votes to 43 percent for his opponent, Duke Nguyen, declared victory Wednesday afternoon. The Registrar of Voters still has 418,600 votes to count.
The election comes after years of controversy and scandal for the retiring Sheriff, Sandra Hutchens.
The DA face-off, years in the making, pitted Rackauckas against his former heir apparent, Todd Spitzer.
At least 575 new homeless shelter beds will be built in north Orange County under a series of court-enforceable settlement agreements reached in recent days between attorneys for homeless people and the cities of Anaheim, Orange and Tustin.
The closely-watched race pits the DA against his former heir apparent, in a face-off years in the making.
The suicide death of an inmate who was awaiting trial is raising questions about mental health care and safety checks on inmates in Orange County jail facilities. A federal judge called some of the mental health policies “problematic.”