Lisa Pickoff-White
@pickoffwhite.bsky.social
Investigative data journalist covering law enforcement in California. I make data from PDFs. Nerd. Signal user
El Farolito wins national title — short on rest and 2,200 miles from San Francisco missionlocal.org/2026/08/el-f... via @missionlocal.org
El Farolito wins national title — short on rest and 2,200 miles from San Francisco
'Burrito Boys' take home second national title in three seasons in decisive fashion with 3-0 trouncing
missionlocal.org
"Tonk" is a Border Patrol slur that refers to the sound a metal flashlight makes when used to beat a migrant in the head. And that's the word that Border Patrol agents under the direct command of Greg Bovino were using when bragging about their arrests in Los Angeles last year.
Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · last wk.Immigration agents used racial slurs referring to Latinos in text messages, video obtained by ACLU
The indisputable joy of sitting outside, sipping on a coffee, reading and writing a bit with breaks to people watch.
🚨NEW🚨 The $35bn police tech giant Axon claims its AI massively speeds up cops’ report writing time. I got public records showing one of its AI tools introduced errors into reports, “dramatically” increasing the time it takes to finish them. www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...
Axon Says AI Police Reports Save Time. Public Records Show They Get Facts Wrong
More than 600,000 police reports have been written with help from Axon’s AI tools. Public records obtained by Forbes show that they can introduce errors that cops have to spend time editing out.
forbes.com
When exactly does one stop having dreams about missing a class and failing it…
Meanwhile, Berkeley is seeking bidders other than Flock for its surveillance network expansion and approved new rules for handling video feeds shared with police.
Surveillance contract with Flock approved by Alameda County
Meanwhile, Berkeley is seeking bidders other than Flock for its surveillance network expansion and approved new rules for handling video feeds shared with police.
berkeleyside.org
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office says they’re reviewing the case that LAPD presented regarding Brian Palacios, an ICE agent who killed Keith Porter, Jr. while off duty. Saying “cases like this can take several months or more to resolve.”
Sean Beckner-Carmitchel@acatwithnews.bsky.social · last mo.BREAKING: Charges for the fatal shooting of Keith Porter Jr. by off-duty ICE agent Brian Palacios have been sent to the DA for review. O’Donnell announced it during a commission meeting just now.
California librarians were stunned when a last-minute budget change stripped K-12 schools of a trove of research materials, potentially leaving thousands of students without resources to do reports, projects or homework assignments. cal.news/4oZjp4i 📸 Shelby Knowles
We analyzed hundreds of docs & bodycam and identified 271 agents. We found that most had 10+ years of experience & special training. Linking them to incidents, we found they often overcounted alleged assaults against them & undercounted their own uses of force. blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/30/w...
Who Were The Midway Blitz Border Patrol Agents? Most Were Veteran Immigration Officers
Though the federal agents often wore masks concealing their identities, Block Club Chicago identified 271 of them. Many were trained specifically for crowd control, yet reported using force more than ...
blockclubchicago.org
Fire survivors say “it’s morally reprehensible,” and experts worry the wagering could lead to arson.
People are betting on wildfires. Should they? - High Country News
Fire survivors say “it’s morally reprehensible,” and experts worry the wagering could lead to arson.
hcn.org
Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late, rejecting RNC challenge 5-4 ruling that says counting ballots “as long as they were sent by Election Day is not prohibited under federal law.” Barrett + Roberts + liberals = majority www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late, rejecting RNC challenge
The justices ruled that a Mississippi law that allows ballots to be counted as long as they were sent by Election Day is not prohibited under federal law.
nbcnews.com
Local officials often aim to block the public from seeing what goes on inside a jail. But the emergency calls they make can offer a window into how people inside are treated.
Hundreds of Calls for Help: What 911 Logs Reveal About the Local Jail
From assaults to suicide attempts, emergency calls can be a sign of problems that jails can’t handle on their own.
themarshallproject.org
Since 2016, people have filed 19,000+ complaints about officers allegedly prejudiced behavior in California. Through record requests and court filings we reviewed how agencies disciplined officers in some cases, like using the n-word, calling a judge a cunt in court. 12% of officers were fired.
California Agencies Disciplined Officers for Biased Conduct, but They Rarely Lost Their Jobs | KQED
California disciplinary records show officers who used racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ language often kept their jobs after agencies sustained misconduct findings.
kqed.org
Nearly 150 police officers in Calif. were caught using racial slurs, sharing derogatory memes and harassing people based on their race, gender, sexuality and more — and most kept their jobs, UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program & The California Newsroom found. www.kqed.org/news/1208491...
California Agencies Disciplined Officers for Biased Conduct, but They Rarely Lost Their Jobs | KQED
California disciplinary records show officers who used racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ language often kept their jobs after agencies sustained misconduct findings.
kqed.org
This bill would be a disaster for transparency in California. Difficult to overstate how bad it would be for journalism, and for the public's ability to understand the work of government calmatters.org/politics/202...
California could become the ‘most secretive’ state under new public records bill
Want government records? You might have to pay more, wait longer or even fight the court to obtain them under a proposed new measure.
calmatters.org
The FBI found that an officer violently threatened transgender people on TikTok. His agency investigated, he resigned. He went on to work at two other departments. He’s one of 148 officers disciplined for biased conduct. Most kept their jobs. w @emilymzentner.bsky.social & Marnette Federis
California Agencies Disciplined Officers for Biased Conduct, but They Rarely Lost Their Jobs | KQED
California disciplinary records show officers who used racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ language often kept their jobs after agencies sustained misconduct findings.
kqed.org
If you did feel the earthquake, fill out the USGS survey! They're really helpful for research. earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
AB 1821 “looks a lot like an effort to evade accountability,” says FAC’s David Snyder. Lawmakers should reject AB 1821. California could become the ‘most secretive’ state under new public records bill calmatters.org/politics/202...
California could become the ‘most secretive’ state under new public records bill
Want government records? You might have to pay more, wait longer or even fight the court to obtain them under a proposed new measure.
calmatters.org
JUST IN: Feds & out-of-state agencies "improperly" accessed San Francisco license-plate surveillance data from Flock cameras, according to an SFPD audit. SFPD says neither ICE nor DHS accessed data directly. missionlocal.org/2026/06/fede...
Federal agencies ‘improperly’ accessed S.F. license-plate surveillance data, audit finds
Federal agencies illegally searched SFPD license plate data gathered through the Flock system of surveillance cameras, an audit found.
missionlocal.org
I’m not at #IRE but this looks like a great session
Adam A. Marshall@a-marshall-plan.bsky.social · 2mo ago#IRE26: I know you've got questions about what AI is going to do to public records. Today at 2:30, @alexiafernandezcam.bsky.social @mvtopic.bsky.social, @seanmussenden.bsky.social, and yours truly will explore the issues. Join us! 2026-ire-conference.sessionize.com/session/1258...
Six years before Ellen DeGeneres caused mayhem by uttering the words “I’m gay” on primetime, anyone flipping channels in San Francisco at 2pm on a Tuesday could stumble upon a “Lavender Lounge” segment called “Travels Through Transgender Land.” www.coyotemedia.org/the-most-gro...
The Most Groundbreaking Dance Party in San Francisco Was on ’90s Public Access TV
‘Lavender Lounge,’ a queer variety show that ran from 1991 to 1995, returns to the screen for the first time in 30 years in a new documentary short.
coyotemedia.org
AB 1506 mandated California’s AG to investigate fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians. But now, 13 AG investigations have exceeded 3 years — past the statute of limitations for many crimes and past the deadline to decertify an officer. 📝 @nigelduara.bsky.social and Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett
How a George Floyd-inspired California law accidentally weakened police accountability
Investigations into fatal shootings by California police take so long that officers often can't be decertified or prosecuted, a CalMatters investigation shows.
calmatters.org
Every once in awhile the spelling of a word just looks *wrong* and today it’s kept.
