Sacramento city and county were awarded a total of $19.4 million in federal funding grants Wednesday – enough to put 25 police officers and 25 sheriff’s deputies back to work for the next three years. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program is a competitive grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to hire, rehire, or retain police officers. This year, 2,712 law enforcement agencies requesting more than $2 billion to fund the hiring of 8,999 officers were considered for COPS Hiring Program funding, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Selection for awards was based on an applicant

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is trying to prevent his department from having to lay off any employees despite facing a $4.3 million budget shortfall, according to Jones’ spokesman, Deputy Jason Ramos. The county budget was approved Thursday by the Board of Supervisors. Jones told the supervisors earlier this week that he recently brought down his department’s $26.7 million shortfall to $9.5 million. The Board of Supervisors restored $5.2 million to his budget Thursday, leaving a gap of $4.3 million. The supervisors resolved the county’s $90 million gap by making severe cuts. County Budget Officer Tom Burkart estimated that more than 200 layoffs may occur as a result of the budge

Sacramento County elected officials approved a budget Thursday that could result in more than 200 employee layoffs, according to county budget officer Tom Burkart. These layoffs for the 2011/2012 fiscal year are in addition to the 1,299 layoffs the county has made since the 2008/2009 fiscal year, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis. She added that 1,299 people were actually laid off as opposed to job positions being cut. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors balanced its budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on Thursday afternoon, closing out a $90 million shortfall. The county has a general fund of $1.9 billion and a total budget of roughly $3.5 billion. The approved budget is a f

In the view of Sacramento community activist Kathy Jenkins, stronger parenting of youth is key to reducing gang violence. At a forum in Oak Park on youth and gang-related violence, Jenkins told a crowd of about 150 Sacramento residents, city staffers and police officers that assertive parents should influence the lives of young people. “This is called parenting, this is not policing,” Jenkins said. “If we could parent, and if we can raise,” she added, “and if we can encourage, and if we can take guns and give books, if we can give dolls instead of pimping ... If we could do these things, we could put (the police) out of work. I would rather see them writing parking tickets.” Jenkins was

In response to the December shootings at a south Sacramento barbershop, Mayor Kevin Johnson will host a public forum on crime and violence on Wednesday in Oak Park. “That was the latest spark, if you will, that brought the call for this particular meeting,” said R.E. Graswich, Johnson’s special assistant. City Police Chief Rick Braziel and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones will attend the event, according to the press offices of the two law enforcement agencies. Graswich said the forum will include sessions for community members to discuss the causes of crime and violence in their neighborhoods and how those problems can be addressed. “Obviously, we can’t tolerate this,” Graswich s

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said Monday that he will ask faith and business groups to advise him on public safety issues. At a briefing with reporters at the Sheriff’s Department building downtown, Jones said he will create two new advisory boards with representatives from religious, community and business groups within the next three months. Jones had pitched his plan to establish the two new advisory groups during his political campaign for sheriff last fall. These groups will help the department connect with youth and improve the county’s business climate, he said. Jones has not yet named anyone to the new advisory groups, according to the Sheriff’s Department press office.

District 7 City Council As election results continue to trickle in, District 7 City Council candidate Ryan Chin is feeling less confident about his prospects for a win. “It’s obviously not going in my direction,” Chin said. In the District 7 race, Fong was leading with 52 percent of the vote Thursday night. Chin followed with 47 percent. In the Nov. 3 results release, Fong had 51 percent to Chin’s 48 percent. Chin said he might “reach out” to opponent Darrell Fong. But it was unclear Friday if or when Chin will concede the race. “We’re happy that our numbers held and that our numbers went up,” Fong said Friday. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Race Both Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones and Capt

The two candidates for Sacramento County sheriff are reading the results of a close race in opposite ways. Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones said he is so confident with the results that he’s planning to discuss his vision soon with outgoing Sheriff John McGinness. But Jones’ opponent, Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper, said the county has so many more ballots to count that the outcome is unknown. By the latest count, Jones leads with 50.8 percent of the vote, and Cooper follows with 48.8 percent. Sacramento County’s elections department has a total of 120,000 ballots left to count, according to the department’s website. Of the remaining ballots, 108,000 are vote-by-mail and 12,000 are provisional. Jone

1:11 a.m. update final results The ballot counting is far from over. The Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections Department still has to count tens of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots that were turned in to the polls Election Day, said Brad Buyse, Sacramento County’s campaign services manager. And there are thousands of vote-by-mail ballots sent to the county in the last three days that still need to be counted, Buyse said. Still, the elections department posted results late into the night on Wednesday. Here is where the following local measures stand: Measure B: Utilities Rollback The “no” side had 68 percent of the vote, with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Support fo

Two Sacramento County sheriff’s captains are in their final weekend of campaigning for sheriff. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones or Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper should replace outgoing Sheriff John McGinness. Jones sat down with The Sacramento Press on Friday morning in Carmichael to discuss his ideas and qualifications. Read The Sacramento Press’ interview with Cooper here. SP: In your view, what are a few of the most pressing public safety issues in the county? SJ: We have a lot of pressing problems. Of course, everything is overarched by the budget. It’s not just a question of what I would like to do, it’s a question of what we can do within our budgetary

The duel between two Sacramento County sheriff’s captains is nearly over. Local voters will choose one of two candidates in the Nov. 2 election to replace outgoing Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness. Sacramento County Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper is in the final stretch of his runoff campaign against Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones. Cooper, who is also an Elk Grove City Council member, sat down with The Sacramento Press on Thursday afternoon to discuss his ideas and qualifications for the sheriff’s post. The Sacramento Press has asked for an interview with Jones, and aims to talk to him before Election Day. SP: In your view, what are a few of the most pressing public safety problems in the