Law Enforcement

LAPD on way to clearing up DNA sample backlog
A decades-old backlog of more than 7,000 untested rape kits has been nearly cleared by the LAPD, but 1,000 more DNA samples collected since 2008 have piled up and will take until July to analyze, officials said. Just 35 rape kits from the original backlog remain to be tested, and officials said they expect those to be completed by February, four months ahead of schedule. "The shame that this brought to the city was untenable," said Chief Charlie Beck, who led a task force assigned to clear up the backlog before he was promoted last year to head the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles Daily News

Gang moms and dads sent to parenting classes
It's a Saturday morning and a half-dozen adults are sitting in a high school classroom, staring at grim photos of sickly drug addicts and hearing about the deadly consequences of gang crime. They'd rather not be here, but a judge made them come. The moms and dads were ordered to attend the class under a new California law giving judges the option of sending parents for training when their kids are convicted of gang crimes for the first time.
The Associated Press

Despite being outmoded, a confidential license plate program keeps growing
At the time, it made perfect sense. In 1978, it was easy for anyone to use California Department of Motor Vehicles records to link a license plate number to the plate-holder's name and address. Police officers, judges and others who dealt with some of society's seamier denizens were unhappy about that, lest their work follow them home.
Contra Costa Times

Red-light cameras go dark across state
While the state collects millions of dollars from red-light cameras at intersections, a few California cities are starting to question whether the safety benefits are worth the high cost to their own coffers. Loma Linda is the latest city to drop their red-light camera program. Whittier shuttered its program in November, choosing not to renew its contract with Nestor Traffic Systems, citing no improvement in traffic safety and declining revenue, the Whittier Daily News reported.
California Watch

Homeland Security

Attorney General Eric Holder defends legality of FBI stings against Muslim groups
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. struck back against criticism that the FBI has targeted Muslims in a series of undercover stings, telling a Muslim group Friday night that those who allege government entrapment "simply do not have their facts straight." In one of his most pointed and personal responses to allegations that government anti-terrorism tactics are overly aggressive, Holder strongly defended the FBI agents he said are fighting a wave of terrorist plots.
Washington Post

The Economy

Road to Recovery: California economy inches back up - except for hiring
The economy is advancing slowly. Business conditions are getting better. But some regions, including Sacramento, are still shedding jobs. California's unemployment rate remains a recession-like 12.4 percent and has actually gotten worse since the recovery officially began in June 2009. Most experts say 2011 will be only marginally better than 2010. But make no mistake: A recovery is under way, even if it doesn't always feel that way.
Sacramento Bee

Politics

State Government