You May Need to Think Twice About Going to That Party in Orange
You May Need to Think Twice About Going to That Party in Orange
Have you ever been to a party that’s gotten out of hand? Everyone is having a good time and suddenly the police arrive to state that the noise level is just too high. In situations like these, police will often make contact with the owner of the house and inform them that the noise level needs to go down or issue the owner a citation. When police have to issue…
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Should Creating Fake Online Profiles Be a Crime?
It is common knowledge these days that any given online profile on LinkedIn or Facebook might contain false information. It can also be assumed that many online profiles are entirely fake. In fact, in 2014 Facebook reported that about 170 million of its accounts are fake.1 While this number may only make up somewhere between 5 and 11 percent of Facebook users, the problem is not just that they exist—its…
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Warrantless Arrests: Are They Legal?
From early on in this nation’s history, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that the Fourth Amendment includes protections against arrests without warrants. However, there are a number of exceptions to this rule. Should you be arrested under one of these exceptions, you will have the right to a hearing in which the police will have to prove probable cause existed to arrest you without getting a warrant first.1…
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Does Prison Reform Lead to an Increase in Crime?
Ever since California voters passed Proposition 47 into law in 2014, law enforcement and others have been quick to blame the new law for leading to an increase in criminal activity. The same claims have been made of the 2011 Public Safety Realignment Act (PSRA), which shifted the responsibility for treatment of lower level, non-violent felons from the state to each county. While there have been no meaningful studies to…
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Former LA Sheriff Baca Pleads Guilty to Lying to the FBI
Corruptio optimi pessima. Roughly translated, the Latin phrase means, "Corruption of the best is the worst." The phrase is often used to describe the case when a member of our society in a position of great power and respect is revealed to have abused his or her position to further his or her own cause. Such is the case with former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who recently pleaded…
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No Sleep ‘til Confession: Sleep Deprivation and Police Interrogations
Being interrogated by the police can be a frightening experience. Officers and detectives are well trained in the art of getting people to admit things about themselves that they do not want to admit. Regardless of whether you have done something wrong, you can be sure that a law enforcement agent who is convinced you have committed a crime will use every available means to find a way to make…
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The Rules for Police at a Traffic Stop
Many drivers dread the sight of a police car in the review mirror, hoping the sudden flashing of lights and blaring of a siren will not ruin their day. Should that happen to you, it is important that you understand what the police are and are not allowed to do during a traffic stop. Reasonable Suspicion and Probable Cause The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects people from unreasonable…
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Anaheim Police Admit to Invading Your Privacy
If your phone has dropped a call or lost service while you were in Anaheim, it might seem like it is logical to blame Disneyland. More than 16 million people visit Anaheim every year as part of their journey to Disneyland. Combine that with the three million residents of Orange County, and at any given time, cell phone traffic in Anaheim can be extremely heavy. However, a recent discovery by…
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Obama Announces Prison Reform
President Obama recently announced that he will issue a series of executive orders to address prison reform following recommendations from the US Justice Department. 1 The Obama administration’s agenda hopes to address current problems with the criminal justice system to make it “fairer, to be smarter, to be more effective.”2 Among the changes is an end to solitary confinement for juveniles and for those who committed low-level infractions. The proposed…
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Can Social Media Prevent Future Crimes?
In 2002, Steven Spielberg directed Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report. Spoiler alert: the movie’s plot focused on a detective in a futuristic world where the police used the gifts of three people who could see into the future to stop crimes before they could happen. Fourteen years after that movie’s release, it seems that all Cruise’s character would have needed is some Internet savvy to find out whom…
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