The sudden reemergence of widespread crime – from petty to violent – has Californians of all stripes worried. For Steve Smith of the Pacific Research Institute, the genesis of this slide into crime begin with a trio of policies aimed at early release of prisoners and decriminalization of key laws.
Smith, a career police officer who has organized peacekeeping forces abroad and served as a justice administration professor, concluded a decade-long study on California’s decade of criminal justice reform. The study, titled “Paradise Lost: Crime in the Golden State 2011-2021,” was released just before the tragic murder of Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco, Jr. at the hands of Nathaniel Dixon, a felon released early from jail.
He speaks with Daniel Gligich on his study and the implications of a decade of reform on the Golden State.
