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Investigations

Col. Christopher De Los Santos is buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Feb. 17, 2016.

The Public Eye

Suicide, investigation and a lawsuit follow booze-fueled UC Davis ag school retreat

A boozy work retreat for UC Davis employees at a pricey hotel in Monterey resulted in an internal investigation and the demotions of two staff members. Their boss, accused of sexual harassment for his drunken behavior on the trip, committed suicide.

The Public Eye

Did conflict-of-interest rules give county officials special treatment on tax bills instead?

During the housing crash of the last decade, three top managers in the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office received bigger breaks on their tax bills than neighbors with similar properties.

Crime - Sacto 911

Citrus Heights police: Too quick to shoot?

Officers in the city of Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento, shot and killed more residents per capita from 2013 through 2016 than any other department of significant size in California. Citrus Heights police shot and killed the same number of people from 2013 through 2016 as the Police Department in Oakland, a city with five times as many residents and a much higher violent crime rate.

Local

With homeless using it as a bathroom, Central Library spends thousands on cleaning

In downtown Sacramento, homeless people use the Central Library for bathrooms and drinking water. Some say the city should provide more facilities. Businesses object.

Afghan Refugees

No Safe Place: Afghans risked their lives for U.S., now struggle in Sacramento

Sacramento has become a major destination for Afghan refugees who translated for U.S. troops or otherwise served in the war effort. But California hasn’t provided the better life they expected. Marked for death by the Taliban at home, they’ve endured poverty and violence in Sacramento.

Black driver stopped driving Mercedes after getting pulled over so many times

The Public Eye

‘Driving while black’ gets you pulled over so much, one guy says, ‘I use Uber’

Black people – especially men – are more likely to be stopped by police for traffic violations than people of any other race in Sacramento, and 5 times as likely to be searched when they are, according to a Bee investigation of traffic data dating back to 2008.

The headquarters of the Cosumnes Community Services District burned in 2015.

The Public Eye

Nobody inspected schools, apartment buildings for fire risk for years in Galt, Elk Grove and Folsom

Schools, day care centers, senior care homes and many public buildings in Galt, Elk Grove and Folsom have not been inspected for faulty wiring, blocked fire exits and other fire hazards for years.

The Public Eye

Lower American River contains unsafe levels of E. coli. Are homeless camps to blame?

The lower American River contains E. coli levels that exceed the the federal government’s threshold for safe recreational activity, tests show.

The birth of Oroville Dam: Watch 1960s construction of tallest dam in the U.S.

Water & Drought

‘Lethal arrogance’? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown’s towering ambition

California Governor Pat Brown’s zeal in erecting the Oroville Dam in the 1960s left a mess for his son, current Gov. Jerry Brown, to clean up.

Jenny Williamson, photographed at Courage House in 2015. The Sacramento-area home for teen sex-trafficking victims closed in June. Williamson has vowed to reopen and is raising funds.

The Public Eye

‘Spiritual warfare,’ ‘demonic attacks.’ The role religion played in home for sex-trafficking victims

A Sacramento-area home for teen sex-trafficking victims was cited this year after performing a religious ritual on one of the girls. The clash underscores the tension that can arise when faith-based service providers get government funding to care for vulnerable clients.

Jenny Williamson began pressing for expansion even before the first Courage House doors opened in 2011. “We’re going to engage a million people to build 1,000 homes in 100 countries in the next 10 years,” she told one congregation.

Investigations

Nonprofit has raised millions to help teen sex victims. Now it struggles to deliver

Courage Worldwide Inc. and founder Jenny Williamson have taken in millions in donations to house young sex-trafficking victims. But the group’s Sacramento-area home sits closed and plans for expansion have not materialized.

Jenny Williamson, left, talks with a staff member at Courage House in September 2015. The facility, which Williamson founded as a group home for young sex-trafficking victims, has closed amid state scrutiny.

The Public Eye

Vaunted group home for sex-trafficking victims closes amid state scrutiny; big donors pull back

Courage House, a Sacramento-area group home for young sex-trafficking victims, has closed amid a flurry of state citations. Founder Jenny Williamson maintains the closure is temporary and the citations are largely baseless. But former employees raise grave concerns about the operation.

Crime - Sacto 911

Two police killings two decades apart leave same questions for Sacramento families

The Police Department will meet with city officials on Tuesday to decide whether to pursue an internal affairs investigation into the July shooting death of Joseph Mann. Officer John Tennis, one of two officers who fired shots, may have inflicted the injury that killed another suspect in 1997. The families of those two victims are waiting to see if police accountability has changed in the decades between the deaths.

The Public Eye

Little-known Sacramento County board hears public complaints about Sheriff’s Department conduct

At a board meeting last week, supervisors focused on improving the Sheriff’s Outreach Community Advisory Board to promote transparency and community involvement in Sheriff Scott Jones’ department.

Investigations

Sacramento sheriff revokes dozens of concealed carry permits following arrests, gun crimes

In the years since Sheriff Scott Jones took office, concealed carry permits have surged in Sacramento County, and now number about 8,000. As of February of this year, Jones had revoked more than 150 county-issued permits for a variety of reasons, including gun-related crimes. In 2015, Jones’ office had a higher rate of revocations to permits than any of the other 25 counties with the most active permits that year.

Afghan Refugees

No Safe Place: Afghans risked their lives for U.S., now struggle in Sacramento

Local

Rick Braziel on telling Sheriff Scott Jones he was considering entering sheriff’s race

Sacramento County Inspector General Rick Braziel describes to The Bee in December 2018 how Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones responded when Braziel told him he was considering entering the sheriff’s race.

Former Sacramento police Chief Rick Braziel – now the inspector general for Sacramento County – tells The Bee on Dec. 5, 2018, about the event that he says changed his relationship with Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.

Crime - Sacto 911

Feud between Sacramento sheriff and inspector general started with a phone call

Scott Jones and Rick Braziel both rose to the top of their law enforcement agencies. Now, they are butting heads over how Jones’ sheriff’s department should oversee officer-involved shootings. Braziel speaks out for the first time

An autistic teenager died at Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills after being placed in a restraint hold, authorities said.

Education

School where student with autism collapsed and later died violated restraint rules, California regulators find

The El Dorado Hills school where a student collapsed and later died after being restrained broke state rules in doing so, according to an inspection by the California Department of Education. Several parents have removed their students after hearing a student died.

Investigations

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