California expands Highway Patrol teams to curb crime in key cities
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CHP CRIME PREVENTION EXPANDS
Via Lia Russell…
The California Highway Patrol will expand into cities including San Diego, Sacramento and Los Angeles, and parts of the Inland Empire and Central Valley to shore up crime prevention efforts, as Gov. Gavin Newsom touted falling crime levels statewide in his ongoing media war against the White House.
During the pandemic, Republicans — and some moderate Democrats — parlayed concerns about visible property crime and blight in blue cities into winning electoral strategies, even as violent crime has dropped in recent decades.
Online, Newsom has repeatedly highlighted the contrast between California cities like San Francisco, whose homicide rate has declined for years, and that of cities in red states with high murder rates like Mississippi and Louisiana.
At a press conference Thursday, Newsom told reporters that he was deploying CHP crime-suppression teams to ensure citizens continued to feel “safe,” a refrain President Donald Trump seized upon as a reason for taking control of Washington, D.C., earlier this month.
The teams will crack down on high-profile, quality-of-life crimes like illegal sideshows, smash-and-grab car thefts, and open-air drug dealing, according to CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee.
“He’s de facto militarizing American cities,” Newsom said of Trump’s threats to send the National Guard to cities like L.A. and Oakland, which he claimed were “so far gone” with crime.
Newsom’s administration is currently awaiting Judge Stephen Breyer’s order on its June lawsuit against the Pentagon for ordering the California National Guard to protect federal immigration officials from anti-deportation protests, which helped kickstart the feud with Trump that has dominated headlines (and the internet) this summer.
“We’re waiting for the outcome that could have profound implications in terms of his authority to militarize American cities again,” Newsom said.
PUSH FOR AI SAFETY
Via Amelia Wu...
State Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, wrote a letter to his Sacramento colleagues shortly after learning of California teen Adam Raine’s ending his life, allegedly encouraged by ChatGPT.
The news coincides with the progress of SB 243 which requires that chatbot developers and companies implement safeguards, such as warning users that chatbots are not suitable for minors.
Passed in the Senate in June, this bill, if approved, would be among the first laws in the nation to regulate AI companions with safety standards. The bill is scheduled to be voted on Friday in the Assembly.
“While their self-imposed safety regulations have not been able to prevent tragedies like this, the company seeks to expand its reach among young people,” Padilla wrote in reference to ChatGPT. “Clearly, Big Tech is not capable of policing itself.”
The bill authored by Padilla would also allow families to pursue legal action.
Padilla is not the only one. Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to 12 AI companies, including ChatGPT, on August 25 after reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children. Senator Scott Weiner’s SB 53 also requires transparency guardrails for large AI model companies.
Nearly a quarter of Californian users of ChatGPT are college aged, according to an August report from ChatGPT. The AI company also partnered with the 22 Cal State universities in February, bringing 500,000 students and faculty premium access.
“I wanted to share and to underscore the importance of this bill and what is at stake — the precious wellbeing and even lives of the young and vulnerable,” Padilla wrote in the letter.
UC PROVES POPULAR ACROSS PARTY LINES
…via William Melhado
The divide between Democrats and Republicans doesn’t seem to be closing anytime soon, but in the Golden State, members of both major parties generally agree, the University of California system produces important research that benefits communities in the state.
A new poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies reported that 7 out of 10 people polled said California communities benefited from the university system’s research, including 58% of registered Republicans and 78% of registered Democrats who participated in the poll.
In a statement announcing the poll results, IGS Co-Director G. Cristina Mora said, “In an era where the benefits of public higher education are being questioned, the polling results suggest that California’s residents see the value in a UC education and recognize the many different ways the UC system contributes positively to the state, from its research to its health services to its educational offerings.”
UC’s medical centers saw the broadest support among those polled. More than three quarters of the 6,474 registered voters in Californians who participated in the poll agreed that UC’s “medical centers are important to the communities they serve.”
The poll found widespread support for the university system’s medical centers also crossed political boundaries with 75% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats agreeing on the question.
Eric Schickler, another IGS co-director, noted the finding was a “rare case of consensus across party lines in today’s highly polarized era.”
The poll also found strong support, among UC graduates, for the value of their education relative to its cost. In a follow-up, 76% of respondents said getting their degree was worth the cost — a sentiment that found a majority of Republicans and Democrats in agreement.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We cannot allow public health to become a political pawn. Congress must step up to restore scientific integrity for the safety of every American.”
— Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi on the resignations of several top CDC officials
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