The protests came in response to an approved agenda item which moved to increase annual tuition within the CSU system by 9%.  Trustees voted 9-6 to approve the hike, making this ninth increase to Cal State tuition cost within nine years.  Protestors say this makes the cost of public college education too expensive for many Californians to afford.

University Chancellor Robert Turnage told the AP that much of the energy being exuded was misplaced, and needed to be directed toward those who have “decision-making power” over taxes.

The vote came just hours after it was announced that the state is facing an anticipated $13 billion budget shortfall over the course of the next 18 months.  Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to announce additional budget cuts to help bridge that gap.

During a Newport council meeting this week, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle made a proposal that the city consider contracting its jail services and hire private guards to help bolster the existing jail staff. She called Costa Mesa, “a natural partner.”

It has been confirmed by Costa Mesa Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley and Police Chief Jay R. Johnson of Newport that both cities are discussing the possibility of joining or altering their jail facilities.

Other means of reducing costs are also being considered by both cities, like combining their 911 dispatch and police fleet maintenance. Combining the two police departments is not being considered.

City Manager Dave Kiff said that Costa Mesa has proposed that their officers be allowed to book arrestees at the Newport Jail.

Guards from private security firms will need to be hired in Newport to help support the jail staff since they cannot currently handle a surge of inmates from Costa Mesa, according to officials.

In an email, Chief Johnson stated, “The advantage to this is a measured approach to switching from public to private and gives us time to ensure we are happy with the private contractors’ service, as well as train them with our own custody officers. If we become comfortable with the service, one option would be to replace the remainder of our own custody officers with the private contractor through attrition.”

One of the options being considered for increasing the number of available beds for inmates is sharing jailhouse services. This would allow them to qualify for having the Orange County Sheriff to start overseeing the jail operations, something that would lower the costs to both cities, said Staveley. The sheriff’s department will only consider taking over if there are at least 100 beds available. Costa Mesa Jail has 32 beds and Newport has just 23.

Another option being considered is separating arrestees by gender, sending women to one jail and men to the other.

Newport Beach is also considering the possibility of moving police headquarters from its current location on Santa Barbara Drive to one that is nearer to Costa Mesa, allowing for an easier partnership.

ICE also revealed that since May 2009, they have taken approximately 48,000 convicted illegal alien criminals into custody as a result of the identification process resulting from the program. Furthermore, of that 48,000 arrestees – 23,712 of the defendants have been deported from the United States. Apparently, more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants have been deported just from the Secure Communities Program alone.

Not only is the program being instilled across the state of California, but National Security is also implementing the program. Homeland Security records will be matched along with arrestees fingerprints, so if a match is made, immigration officials will be informed.

Secure Communities Acting Assistant Director, Marc Rapp said, “Secure Communities is improving and modernizing the identification and removal of criminal aliens. It is a major step forward in ICE’s efforts to work with local law enforcement in California and across the country to prevent criminal aliens from being released to our streets.”

However, the program is facing some criticism from immigrant advocates who think that involving police with immigrations enforcement makes immigrants less likely to report any crime.

Tom Ammiano, California Assemblyman, recently revealed a bill that could cancel the agreement between the ICE and California, unless counties are able to refuse to be a part of the program, because Ammiano and others feel that the program will negatively impact the relationships between immigrant communities and law enforcement.

The ICE program was originally only a voluntary program, however, when counties began to opt out, they changed the program to involuntary.

People often ask about the type of person that needs to call a bail bond company. I assure them it could be anyone: students, lawyers, white-collar, blue-collar, celebrities, even mayors get arrested. As a bondsman, we hear the sad stories of people who are in situations they never could have imaged almost every day.

Such is the case with San Gabriel Mayor Albert Huang who this week resigned from office under allegations of battery, assualt and robbery. A mayor? What happened? We don’t know, exactly.

To onlookers, Huang seemed to almost be in tears. The second Asian American to serve on San Gabriel’s City Council informed the public on Tuesday that he would no longer serve as Mayor due to bad press he and his family was receiving since his arrest on Friday.

Huang said, “When I saw someone had posted a picture of my daughter on the Internet, it is when a line has been crossed,” he added in Chinese, “I don’t want my family to be hurt anymore. I will sacrifice anything to protect them.”

Betty Mui, the wife of Huang’s deceased mentor, Chi Mui, spoke on his behalf. “I know Albert,” Mui said, “Albert did a lot to accomplish what Chi left behind. This is a great loss to the community.”

According to San Gabriel Police, Huang and his female companion at a restaurant fought over her purse. Then he tried to drive off with it, first in her car, then in his. She wouldn’t let him go and perched on the running board of his SUV, hanging on as he sped off.

At this time, Huang has not been formally charged but rather put under suspicion of these activities that occurred inside and out of the New Taste Dumpling House. Huang was released Friday on $100,000 bail and since then the Chinese media has been all over his felony charge involving the altercation between a woman and Huang.

Huang’s attorney, Daniel Deng said, “It’s a private matter that has nothing to do with his capacity as mayor; he wants to prove his innocence in court.”

Being arrested and needing a bail bond can happen to anyone, and when they least expect it. Everyone needs to be reminded that the family, victim, defendant and those who are around them are living out a very sad and stressful time in their lives. Even the Mayor is not immune to being arrested, and most people do not expect to find themselves in a situation like this.

That’s when the actor noticed a change of character. The Palm Springs Police report that one of the men held him at gunpoint and forced him to drive around the city, making occasional stops to buy alcohol and use illicit drugs.

London was able to escape his vehicle unscathed, however, the kidnapper stole his vehicle. He reported the kidnapping and vehicle theft to police at around 2:30 a.m. on Friday.

Fortunately, Police were able apprehend the main suspect, Brandon Adams, 26, of Palm Springs. He was charged with kidnapping, robbery, possession of stolen property and vehicular theft.

Now, the suspect will be having a “party for one” inside of a jail cell.

The Glendale Police Department arrested three women on Friday and took them to the Glendale Jail where they are each being held on $20,000 bail. According to a witness, the women knocked on a residential door. When noone answered, they forced themselves in. The three were arrested as they drove away from the scene thanks to the fast acting witness.

The three, Sukari Joiffron, Valeria Acosta and Ziara Cannady, are suspected of other area burgleries. Those with additional information are asked to contact the Glendale Police Department at (818) 548-4911.

Mexican narcotics officers say Arreguin’s operation netted him $144 million a year. They were finally able to arrest the kingpin’s arrest in an attempt to take out the drug market there, after a two year investigation into his dealings,

Ventura County authorities now want to extradite Arreguin from Mexico, for trial.

At a news conference, Ventura County Dististrict Attorney Greg Totten said the King of Heroin’s arrest has “dramatically weakened perhaps the largest drug operation” in the county’s history. Although much of the investigation focused on Arreguin’s drug sales in Oxnard, his activities could be traced all the way from San Diego up to San Jose, officials said.

Totten also said Arreguin operated under the auspices of La Familia, a drug cartel that controls the western state of Michoacan. However, narcotics officers could not link him to the escalating wave of deadly violence that has plagued Mexico as a result.

Arreguin’s capture began with the drug bust of two lower-ranking men. Ventura County Sheriff Deputies, DEA agents, and officers from Oxnard and Downey teamed up to trace the heroin back to Don Pepe in Michoacan. Then their Mexican counterparts found and arrested Arreguin after being asked to do so by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Arreguin, who is looking at a U.S. prison term of 29 years, must be extradited to this country first, but how long that will take is a matter of speculation.

The Ventura Sheriff, Bob Brooks indicated bringing him to a Ventura jail and trying him in a local court would not pose a security problem.

Another teen, 15, arrested in connection with the shooting but who was not formally charged by Contra Costa County prosecutors, has been set free. Authorities continue to look for more suspects who are being sought for conspiracy to commit a crime. The 15-year-old could still be charged later.

Due to their age, neither of these suspects’ names can be released. A 3rd suspect has also eluded capture. Police do not as yet have a motive or even a theory as to why this shooting took place.

By using the latest in high-tech policing methods, detectives on the case implemented the use of enhanced video from a security camera to determine the make, model, color and year of the suspects car. The new high-tech camera device  installed on a police car can detect and read every license plate it sees. This played an integral part in solving the case, along with the intelligent use of it by detectives.

Robbery-Homicide Division Detectives staked out an area the suspect was known to frequent.  On Friday, they saw Merino getting into his car and driving into a parking garage. He was taken into custody.

They later found evidence which connected him to four separate attacks. Merino targeted young girls who were alone, drawing  them into apartment buildings.  His latest attempt occured in November of 2009.

Merino is being held in lieu of a $4 million bail. The two-year manhunt led by the LAPD has finally come to an end with his arrest.

What’s next in the future of crime fighting by use of high-tech methods? I can’t wait to find out.

A Fresno County jail correctional officer who she explains has been charged and jailed for embezzlement.  Alfonso Alanis, 28 was arrested by Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives at approximately 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday. His bail was set at $50,000.

The drama unfolded and investigations were launched around two weeks ago, when detectives were made aware of personal property that was coming up missing from inmates at the jail.

The arrest was made at his home after detectives served a search warrant looking for stolen property. Accused of withholding (stealing) cash and other property from inmates, Alanis himself was booked into the jail.

Alanis has worked as a correctional officer since March of ’05. His job responsibilities included handling the release of jail inmates. It also included handling the property of several inmates from three separate county jails.

Alanis was released on bail later the same day.