The San Diego City Council has been considering new rules about the city’s surveillance technology. Late Monday, the council made some last-minute changes to the proposal after pressure from the police department.
San Diego police officers parked their cruisers and put their boots on the ground Wednesday night in Mira Mesa, all in an effort to reengage with neighborhood.
Two Israeli bystanders leapt in to save a wounded man’s life following a mass shooting in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
Dvir Benesh and Shai Gino, both trained medics in the Israel Defense Forces, happened to be nearby when a gunman opened fire in the busy tourist district last Thursday evening. Gino, 28, is a former IDF captain in now married to an American and studying for U.S. citizenship. His friend Benesh, 26, served in a special unit of the IDF.
Courtesy of San Diego Jewish World
Dvir Benesh, left, and Shai Gino
Gino said they were standing outside a pizza place when the alleged assailant, identified by police as Travis Fereydoun Sarreshteh, 32, approached, yelling for people “to get out of his way.”
EL CAJON
Following the lead of other San Diego County cities, El Cajon appears poised to ban what is known as “targeted picketing” at private homes.
The City Council will consider adopting an ordinance restricting where protests can be held at its meeting on Feb. 23. If approved, the ban would take effect March 25.
Unlike general protests aimed at an issue or event, targeted picketing singles out an individual at their home. The bans are intended to balance freedom of speech with the right to feel safe in your home.
As in the cities of Carlsbad, Poway and Solana Beach, El Cajon’s proposed ordinance would prohibit picketing that is “targeted at a particular residential dwelling and proceeds in a location or on a definite course or route in front of or immediately adjacent to that particular residential dwelling.” Punishment for violating the proposed ordinance will be a misdemeanor.
Community leaders lobby against police cuts as San Diego grapples with worsening deficit [The San Diego Union-Tribune]
Residents and community leaders from across San Diego lobbied city officials Wednesday not to cut Police Department funding, despite new projections showing the city’s budget deficit is worse than expected.
The new projections show the tourism-reliant city is facing an $85.4 million deficit during the current fiscal year that ends June 30. That’s on top of a $154 million deficit projected for the new fiscal year.
Mayor Todd Gloria says he is exploring possible mid-year emergency budget cuts to close the $85.4 million gap. But he said he is not proposing cuts immediately, primarily because the city may receive significant federal and state COVID-19 relief money.