After 30-years of pro active advocacy, the KlaasKids Foundation is calling it a day.

The list of crimes that qualify as non-violent in California is so long that it took 3-blog posts to list all of them. Don’t be fooled by Prop 57. In the final analysis it is nothing more than a “get out of jail free” card for dangerous, violent offenders.

Hate Crimes

• Hate Crime Causing Physical Injury, Property Damage Over $950, or Where the Defendant Has a Prior Conviction for a Hate Crime (Pen. Code § 422.7)*
• Terrorizing the Owner of Private Property by Placing a Sign or Mark (e.g., Nazi Swastika) on the Victim’s Property on Two or More Occasions (Pen. Code § 11411(c))
• Burning or Desecrating a Cross or Religious Symbol on Private Property or School Grounds, For the Purpose of Terrorizing (Pen. Code § 11411(d))

Sex Offenders/Sexually Violent Predators

• Felon Failing to Register as Required as a Sex Offender; Or, Any Person Failing to Register as Required as a Sex Offender When That Person Has Previously Been Convicted of Failing to Register (Pen. Code § 290.018(b))
• Sexually Violent Predator Failing to Verify Sex Registration Every 90 Days (Pen. Code § 290.018(f))

Arson Related Crimes

• Unlawfully Causing a Fire that Causes Great Bodily Injury (Pen. Code § 452(a))*
• Unlawfully Causing a Fire That Causes an Inhabited Structure or Inhabited Property to Burn (Pen. Code § 452(b))
• Unlawfully Causing a Fire of a Structure or Forest Land (Pen. Code § 452(c))

Crimes Related to Firearms

• Supplying, Selling, or Giving a Firearm to a Person to Commit a Gang Crime, and the Person Commits the Gang Crime and is Convicted of It (Pen. Code § 186.28)*
• A Felon Possessing, Purchasing, or Receiving a Firearm (Pen. Code § 29800)
• A Person With a Prior Conviction for a Serious or Violent Felony Owning, Possessing, or Controlling a Firearm (Pen. Code § 29900)
• Assault with a Deadly Weapon (Pen. Code § 245(a)(1))*
• Any Felony in Which a Defendant Personally Uses a Dangerous or Deadly Weapon, or Personally Uses a Firearm, or Personally Inflicts Great Bodily Injury (Pen. Code § 667/1192.7)*
• Involuntary Manslaughter With Personal Use of a Weapon, or Personal Infliction of Great Bodily Injury (i.e., death) (Pen. Code § 192(c))*

Drug-Related Crimes

• Soliciting or Encouraging a Minor to Violate Laws With Respect to Drugs Such as Heroin, Cocaine, or Cocaine Base (Health & Saf. § 11352(a))*
• Employing or Using a Minor to Sell or Transport a Controlled Substance (Health & Saf. § 11353(b)*
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and/or Drugs and Causing Bodily Injury (Veh. Code § 23153)*
• Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated with Personal Infliction of Great Bodily Injury (i.e., death) (Pen. Code § 191.5(b))*
• Selling, Furnishing, Administering, Giving or Offering to Sell, Furnish, Administer, or Give Heroin or Cocaine to a Minor (Health & Saf. § 11353)*
• Possession of Specified Compounds With the Intent to Manufacture Methamphetamine (Health & Saf. § 11383.5)
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and/or a Drug Where the Defendant Has Three or More Separate DUI Violations (Veh. Code § 23550)

Crimes Committed on School Grounds or Universities

• Threatening to Inflict Injury on an Officer or Employee of an Educational Institution (Pen. Code § 71)
• Assault on a Peace Officer Working at a School (Pen. Code § 241.4)
• Battery on a School Employee Where Injury is Inflicted (Pen. Code § 243.6)
• Discharging a Firearm in a School Zone (Pen. Code § 626.9(d))
• Assault on a School Employee Involving a Deadly Weapon (Pen. Code § 245.2)

Crimes Against Peace Officers

• Resisting a Peace Officer and Proximately Causing Death or Serious Bodily Injury to the Officer (Pen. Code § 148.10)*
• Removing or Taking a Firearm From a Peace Officer While Resisting Arrest (Pen. Code § 148(c))
• Battery with Injury Inflicted on Peace Officer, Custodial Officer, Firefighter, Emergency Medical Technician, Lifeguard, Process Server, Traffic Officer, or Animal Control Officer (Pen. Code § 243(c))

Crimes Committed By Inmates

• Inciting a Riot in State Prison or County Jail That Results in Serious Bodily Injury (Pen. Code § 404.6(c))
• Convicted Sex Offender in County Jail or State Prison Revealing the Name and Address of a Sexual Assault Victim to Another Prisoner with Intent That the Victim Be Harassed (Pen. Code § 136.7)*
• Assault on a Custodial Officer (Pen. Code § 241.1)
• Battery Against a Custodial Officer (Pen. Code § 243.1)
• Possessing, Carrying, or Controlling a Specified Weapon or Firearm in a State Prison or County Jail (Pen. Code § 4502(a))
• Manufacturing or Attempting to Manufacture a Specific Firearm in a State Prison or County Jail (Pen. Code § 4502(b))
• Possessing a Controlled Substance or Drug Paraphernalia in State Prison or County Jail (Pen. Code § 4573.6)
• Sodomy While Confined in State Prison or Jail (Pen. Code § 286(e))
• Oral Copulation While Confined in State Prison or Jail (Pen. Code § 288a(e))
• State Prison Inmate Committing an Assault By Means of Force Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury (Pen. Code § 4501(b))
• Escape or Attempt to Escape From State Prison By Force or Violence (Pen. Code § 4503(a))
• Escape or Attempt to Escape From County Jail by Misdemeanant, Home Detainee, or Work Furlough Program Participant, By Force or Violence (Pen. Code § 4532(a)(2))
• Assault With a Deadly Weapon by State Prison Inmate (Pen. Code § 4501)
• Holding a Hostage by State Prison Inmate (Pen. Code § 4503)

By Michael Rushford

The FBI Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report for 2017, which tracks crimes committed during the first six months of the past year in U. S. cities with populations over 100,000, indicates that last year violent crime increased again in most of California’s largest cities.

Data analysis by the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation found that, of the 73 California cities listed in the report, 56% had an increase in violent crime last year.

Cities with the largest violent crime increases included Glendale (35%), Victorville (30%), Pomona (26%), Berkeley (22%), Garden Grove (22%), and Huntington Beach (20%).

Twenty-five cities suffered increases in homicides, including Los Angeles (+2.2%), San Francisco (+36%), Oakland (+17.8%), Fresno (+83.3%), and Sacramento (+61.5%).

San Francisco topped large cities on property crime with a 21% increase.

“While the numbers for the entire year will not be available until the fall, this preliminary report suggests that 2017 was the third year in a row in which California suffered significant increases in violent crime,” said CJLF President Michael Rushford. “Over the past six years, as the state adopted policies that released thousands of known criminals into communities and drastically reduced the consequences for future crimes, the politicians in Sacramento told us crime would not increase. Shame on those who believed them,” he added.

Michael Rushford is President of the Criminal Justice League Foundation

Table 1: Violent Crime in California
Number per 100,000 population

Violent Crime in California 2010-2015

The KlaasKids Foundation has just completed a comparative analysis of 52 State and Regional Amber Alert plans. We provide a link to the official site, the jurisdictional law enforcement agency, the Amber Alert contact, activation criteria, activation plan, and scope of the Amber Alert. While there are numerous similarities between the plans, there are many differences as well. If you wish to know how your state stacks up against the rest simply click here to find out.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have AMBER Alert plans. The AMBER Alert system has also been adopted in the Canadian provinces and continues to expand into the Mexican Border States.

According to the most recent statistics, since 1996, 734 children have successfully been recovered through the issuance of Amber Alerts. Of course many of these children were victims of parental abduction. That occurs when a non-custodial parent takes his or her child(ren) without permission and does not return them to the custodial parent.

Unfortunately, few of the cases that truly require an Amber Alert ever receive one because the cases do not fulfill all of the required criteria. For instance the kidnappings of Polly, Elizabeth Smart, Danielle VanDam, Amber DuBois and Adam Walsh would not have qualified for Amber Alerts in most states because they were either not taken in front of witnesses, the abductor was unknown, or the make and model of the getaway vehicle was not known.

The criteria required for Amber Alert activation was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as was the decision to use the Emergency Alert System as the primary technology for delivery and distribution.

The Amber Alert was created in response to the kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bike near her home in Arlington, Texas on January 13, 1996.

Did you know that personalized medicine is not only rapidly growing, but taking on new meaning with the advances being made in genetic research?  So how could this impact your interest in Child Safety?

The GENiSYSS Child Safety Capsule is a “time capsule” that collects all the crucial information for emergency response plus DNA.  That includes medical history and information, contact information for family and friends, fingerprints, photos, audios, distinguishing characteristics, all the information law enforcement and medical responders need to quickly search and hopefully find your child.

The deeper advantage is that this information, including the DNA sample taken as a tiny drop of blood in our DNA wells containing patented material to keep the DNA whole and safe for many years, can be taken forward into the child’s adult life.  Why would this be important?

Medical science is able to use DNA from earlier in a person’s life, and hopefully prior to that person’s daily exposure to smog, cigarettes, radiation (even from the sun), chemicals and poisons that actually change our DNA.  It’s these changes that are at the root of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autism, Touette’s Syndrome and many other diseases and conditions. If “cleaner” early DNA has been stored and is available, DNA can help predict, prevent and treat these diseases before they become problems in a person’s life.

Wouldn’t you like to have a device that is useful during your child’s life to keep crucial information stored and at your fingertips in case of emergency?  Wouldn’t it be great if that same device could be important to your child as an adult?

To learn more, visit the GENiSYSS Indiegogo Campaign Page.  You’ll be amazed at what you learn, and how easy it is to be prepared for an emergency while your child is young and vulnerable with a device that is important to your child as an adult.