blog post Mass Shootings Rise in California amid National Surge By Heather Harris Jun 22, 2023 While mass shootings in California decreased early in the pandemic, they have begun to inch up. So far this year, Californians have experienced a mass shooting every six days.
Report Pandemic Policymaking and Changed Outcomes in Criminal Courts By Heather Harris Apr 12, 2023 California’s criminal courts quickly adopted policies to address COVID-19. But uneven adoption around the state affected who might face those policies—as well as whether people were convicted and the sentences handed out. In particular, remote hearings contributed to racial differences in outcomes, which may influence whether such hearings continue.
blog post Implications of Chronic Absenteeism for Student Learning By Laura Hill, Emmanuel Prunty Apr 4, 2023 Chronic absenteeism among California’s K–12 students increased dramatically during the pandemic. Schools with larger increases in absenteeism saw steeper declines in student performance on state tests, especially in math.
blog post Homeless Populations Are Rising around California By Jennifer Paluch, Joseph Herrera Feb 21, 2023 Between 2020 and 2022, California’s homeless population increased by 6%. While this growth was largely concentrated in urban areas, the number of people experiencing homelessness declined in San Francisco and Orange County.
blog post How Often Are Firearms Confiscated During Traffic Stops? By Deepak Premkumar, Andrew Skelton, Magnus Lofstrom Feb 16, 2023 As more localities consider reforms intended to reduce police stops for minor traffic violations, it is important to evaluate how instrumental these stops are in seizing illicit firearms. We look at the state’s eight largest police departments and find significant variation in how often searches during traffic stops result in firearms being confiscated.
blog post Shifting Gender Employment Patterns and California’s Care Sector By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Vicki Hsieh Feb 8, 2023 Women in California are now employed at higher rates than prior to the pandemic, while employment among men has yet to recover. What do these trends – and employment patterns in the care sector—say about the shifting balance of work and caregiving as the pandemic recedes?
Report Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Arrests in California By Deepak Premkumar, Thomas Sloan, Magnus Lofstrom, Joseph Hayes Feb 7, 2023 At the onset of COVID-19, California’s criminal justice system was affected by shelter-in-place orders and other public health measures, along with law enforcement directives intended to minimize exposure to the virus. We found that pandemic arrest trends mirror mobility patterns, particularly early on. But other factors, such as a shift in policing strategies, also played a role.
blog post Police Use of Force and Racial Disparities during Traffic Stops By Deepak Premkumar, Magnus Lofstrom, Andrew Skelton Feb 2, 2023 PPIC research has found notable racial disparities in traffic stops—in both the likelihood of being stopped and the likelihood of a search, enforcement, intrusiveness, and/or use of force during that stop.
blog post COVID-19’s Sobering Effect on Life Expectancy By Hans Johnson, Eric McGhee Jan 27, 2023 Life expectancy has declined dramatically during the pandemic. Both in California and nationally, it fell almost a full two years in 2020, and provisional estimates suggest further declines in 2021.
blog post California’s Plunging Birth Rates By Hans Johnson Jan 26, 2023 The birth rate in California is at its lowest level in more than 100 years. We examine what is driving this trend and discuss some of the implications for our state’s future.
