Law Enforcement

Former Burney resident pleads guilty to murder committed in 1984

Today in Shasta County Superior Court, 64-year-old Roger Neil Schmidt Sr. pled guilty to charges of murder and sexual assault filed by the Shasta District attorney’s office earlier this year, four decades after the crimes were committed.

Latest in Law Enforcement
Black and Indigenous people in Shasta disproportionately face adverse interactions with police, local study says

A report by the Shasta Equal Justice Coalition used law enforcement data to examine racial and other demographic disparities in the county’s legal system.

After spate of alleged hate crimes and incidents, California Civil Rights Department holds forum in Shasta

Addressing recent allegedly racially-motivated crimes and incidents, California’s Commission on the State of Hate held a forum with local leadership to discuss the harms of discrimination.

Neighbors organize in opposition to proposed three-part Shasta correctional facility 

As the county moves forward with preliminary steps toward what could one day be a three-part correctional campus located off Eastside Road in Redding, neighbors voiced their concerns during a tense public meeting. The city hopes to rezone the land, which was recently leased by the county, to allow for a facility to be built.

Feds kept local sheriff in dark about ICE role in cannabis raid — straining Oregon sanctuary laws

Local police participated in a drug raid. The feds had coordinated beforehand to have ICE take cannabis farm workers into custody in Medford.

In less than seven days, two men incarcerated at the Shasta County jail have died

Just days after the death of Michael Kennith Jorgenson, Jason Driskell was released from custody and died shortly thereafter in a local hospital, according to the Sheriff.

6 takeaways: California’s deadly failure on drunk driving

While DUI fatalities surge, a CalMatters investigation finds state leaders have shown little willingness to address the issue.

Another man dies while in-custody of the Shasta County Jail, bringing this year’s  fatality count to three.

Michael Kennith Jorgenson was 24 years old. Like most who die in-custody, he was still awaiting trial.

New details emerge in alleged Igo hate crime case

Timothy Ray Thompson is facing 17 charges, including assault with a firearm and special hate crime enhancement. In court last week a judge ruled that he will be held to answer on all charges. He has not yet entered a plea.

An inmate at San Quentin State Prison on March 17, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
California shrank prisons with sentencing changes. A new study shows how that’s working

Several new California laws gave incarcerated people a second chance at freedom. A new report provides the first in-depth look at how they’re working.