California Crime on the Rise and Law Enforcement Response
Police departments in the greater San Diego area recently installed surveillance cameras between the OB Pier and San Diego River, hoping to deter crime. Cities in Northern California are also advocating for surveillance as a safety measure in public areas, in response to increasing reports of crime in California.
According to a 2015 FBI study, crime rates “more than doubled in California’s major cities in the first half of 2015, and violent crime rose by double digits.” While some people attribute this rise to the passing of Proposition 47, which reduced many drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and allowed offenders that would otherwise be in jail to instead serve only probation, many more are baffled as to how California’s crime was decreasing and now faces a sharp incline.
Police Deterrents
A police vehicle stationed at the median on a highway. Anti-drunk driving campaigns. Surveillance cameras. Steep fines for misconduct. These are only a few of the methods that the state employs to deter criminal conduct. There are incentives for staying within the bounds of law, and California lawmakers are aiming to make these deterrents known to the community in hopes of decreasing crime.
Public notice of video surveillance is generally required, usually accomplished by signs for all to see. By complying with surveillance laws, police and make it much more likely that the evidence gathered by these cameras may be used against you in court.
We recently witnessed some of the challenges of using electronic evidence for criminal investigations in connection with the San Bernardino shootings back in December 2015. These challenges are similar to those that prosecutors may face when trying to use cell phone data, electronic communication such as e-mail, handheld cellular phone videos or voice recordings, and surveillance footage. In order for evidence to be admissible against either party in a criminal action, the evidence, whether it is a document, a statement, a picture, or a video, must be properly “authenticated.”
This means that there is sufficient proof that the evidence being offered is genuine and unaltered. Technology is growing faster than laws are able to adapt in this area, and entering and keeping out technological evidence in court can be very difficult.
Find Out How We Can Help
If there is electronic evidence being offered against you in any criminal action, you need an experienced San Diego criminal defense lawyer to try to keep that evidence out of your case. Consequently, if there is electronic evidence that is favorable to your case, you need an experienced lawyer to make the best case for why that evidence should be admitted in your defense. The laws in these evidentiary areas are vague and rely on creative legal arguments in order to be deemed admissible or inadmissible, depending on what outcome you are seeking.
Attorney Vikas Bajaj has the knowledge necessary to navigate these difficult evidentiary issues to your advantage. To lean more about how electronic evidence may be used for or against you in a criminal matter, contact his San Diego criminal defense law office today.
Law Office of Vikas Bajaj, APC
1230 Columbia Street Suite 565
San Diego, CA 92101
