Category Archives: Law

Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Crime, Law

DNSO Seeks Person Of Interest Connected With Suspected Arson

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office. Above: The DNSO is asking residents in the vicinity of the 1400 block of West Macken for assistance in seeking a person-of-interest connected with a suspected arson.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a person-of-interest connected with a suspected arson that took place at a home on the 1400 block of West Macken Avenue in Crescent City at about noon Wednesday.

The fire has rendered the home uninhabitable, Undersheriff Devon Perry told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. The DNSO is currently building a case and is seeking information about an individual who was wearing dark colored clothing and was seen on video surveillance leaving the area, though Perry said he was unable to release further details about the subject.

“A neighbor saw smoke coming out from underneath the residence, contacted the tenant of that residence and discovered there was a fire going on underneath,” Perry said. “The fire department was contacted and upon arrival requested deputy assistance for suspected arson.”

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Law, Local Government

Curry Commissioners Cite 2007 Oregon Appeals Court Ruling When Discussing Dispute With Sheriff

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Thumbnail: Screenshot

Though the outcome of a declaratory judgment against the sheriff is still pending, Curry County’s newest commissioner told his colleagues of a 2007 Oregon Appeals Court ruling that may apply to the current situation.

Referring to an ongoing dispute between the Board of Commissioners and Sheriff John Ward, Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he and Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald received information about Daniel v. The Board of County Commissioners for Josephine County.

“A lot of the back and forth, or the lack of back and forth, between the commissioners and the sheriff is [about] who has authority over what and why,” Hollinger told his colleagues Wednesday. “And as we all know, we have a declaratory judgment that we’re still waiting to have happen, but this covers a couple of those items within our declaratory judgment. And that would be positions within the sheriff’s department and who picks and chooses those positions and how those positions are funded.”

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Infrastructure, Law

Discovery of Lead Paint on Bunk Beds Force Curry County Commissioners To Reduce Jail Capacity

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Thumbnail photo: Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Lead paint on bunks at the Curry County Jail prompted commissioners to temporarily reduce the facility’s capacity, cutting its number of beds from 35 to 16.

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office will be more judicious about who they accept into the jail as a result, according to Lt. Jeremy Krohn. But it’s the less drastic of two options he presented to commissioners at an emergency meeting on Friday. The alternative was to completely evacuate the jail, he said.

Some staff have already been relocated, Krohn said.

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Articles, Community News, Health, Law

Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours

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Thumbnail photo: Concept art of the Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope mobile mental health crisis response van. Above: Supervising Behavioral Health Specialist Mariah Coats and two of PATH’s team members, Certified Peer Support Specialist Ryan Downs and Behavioral health Specialist Aaron Matthess. | Photos courtesy of Shiann Hogan

Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope, or PATH, program has responded to 27 calls for help since it launched nearly two months ago.

In a majority of those cases, the staff manning the new mobile mental health crisis unit have helped those individuals come up with a safety plan and have followed up with those folks, Behavioral Health Branch Deputy Director Shiann Hogan told Redwood Voice Community News.

But, while it’s a resource anyone, including law enforcement, can call upon, PATH is currently only available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday due to staffing issues.

Continue reading Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Law, Local Government

Though He’ll Enforce State Law, Sheriff Advises Harbor District To Hold Off On Administrative Fines For Illegal Fireworks This Year

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Thumbnail: Illegal fireworks on South Beach rivaled professional display Crescent City put on near the North Jetty in this July 4, 2018 photo | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday broke off pursuit of an agreement with the county enabling them to levy fines aimed at curtailing illegal fireworks within their jurisdiction, taking advice from their harbormaster and, through him, the Del Norte County Sheriff.

Sheriff Garrett Scott said his deputies and officers from other agencies will still enforce state law prohibiting fireworks that explode, go into the air and move erratically on the ground this Independence Day. This includes citing and arresting anyone selling, displaying or possessing illegal fireworks in violation of the California Penal Code as well as confiscating dangerous fireworks.

He said he also wanted to see how his office handles enforcing Del Norte County’s new fireworks ordinance, which was established in October and also includes a fee structure.

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Law

Curry County Sheriff Takes To Facebook After BOC Transfers K9 Vehicles To Brookings

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Curry County commissioners on Tuesday green lit a proposal to transfer four vehicles to the Brookings Police Department for use in its K9 program.

They reached this decision after learning that BPD would make its dogs available to other agencies in the county. But it prompted Sheriff John Ward to rehash a long-standing grievance via Facebook on Wednesday.

“This was all done without a conversation with me or even one word, no communication,” he posted on the Curry County Justice Facebook page. “They even demanded that I turn over all duplicate keys to all our vehicles. It sounds insane, but that is what is going on.”

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Articles, Community News, Law, Local Government

A Look at the 2025 LEADN Award Ceremony

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Redwood Voice Reporter Ethan Caudill-DeRego.

Friends, family, and other community members came together on March 13th to honor local law enforcement at the Cultural Center on Front Street. The award ceremony kicked off with the Pelican Bay Honor Guard bringing out the flags of the United States, State of California, and Yurok Tribe. Former Crescent City Mayor Blake Inscore followed up the pledge and anthem with a religious invocation.

Awards recipients included staff of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Crescent City Hall, Del Norte County Probation Department, Redwood National & State Parks, Pelican Bay State Prison, California Department Of Fish & Wildlife, Yurok Tribal Police, and the Del Norte County District Attorney.

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Articles, Community News, Law

State Scolds Former Del Norte County Judge Robert Cochran For Making Demeaning Comments to a Domestic Violence Victim

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Former Del Norte County Superior Court Judge Robert Cochran received a public reprimand from the California Commission on Judicial Performance for making demeaning comments to a domestic violence victim. | Photo by Paul Critz

A retired Del Norte County judge received a public reprimand from the California Commission on Judicial Performance for making demeaning comments to a domestic violence victim during hearings in 2023.

The commission found that former Del Norte County Superior Court Judge Robert Cochran “conveyed the appearance of embroilment and bias and exhibited discourtesy” toward the victim at a domestic violence restraining order hearing in May 2023 and later at a change of plea hearing in October 2023 after her partner was convicted for his actions.

The Commission on Judicial Performance concluded that Cochran’s treatment of the victim “constituted serious misconduct,” according to its decision and order imposing public admonishment published Wednesday. Cochran, the commission stated, “did not appear to fully appreciate the impropriety of his comments.”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Law

DNSO Releases Name Of Surf Apartments Resident Killed In Officer-Involved Shooting

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The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a Surf Apartments resident who was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Monday.

The deceased is 67-year-old John Spencer, Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday. Spencer’s next of kin has been notified, Scott said, and the incident is still under investigation. According to Scott, the CHP from the Southern Division is heading the investigation.

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Activism, Alerts, Humboldt, In Media Res, Law, Local Government

Automated License-Plate Reading Cameras Are Back on the Table

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of AS Photography, which has been edited.

The Eureka City Council will be voting today at 6pm on whether or not to install 21 automated license-plate reading (ALPR) cameras throughout the city. There are also considerations to introduce these cameras into Arcata, Fortuna, and on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, according to an article from the Lost Coast Outpost’s Isabella Vanderheiden.

These ALPR cameras are provided by Flock Technology, a private company specializing in AI-based visual surveillance systems. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending civil liberties in the digital world, ALPR cameras can capture license plate numbers as well as identifying details of any passing vehicle, such as make, model, color, physical damage, bumper stickers, and more—so-called “vehicle fingerprints” that enable easier tracking. It does this, Flock claims, in order to compare license plate numbers against stolen vehicles or individuals wanted on criminal charges.

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