Crime

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee acknowledged he didn’t follow the state law or his own department’s policy when he left his service handgun in his personal truck just before the vehicle was stolen in Modesto April 27. Shortly after the theft, the city’s top law...

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee, a 30-year-plus law enforcement veteran, found himself the victim of a crime when someone stole his personal vehicle April 27, according to police. The chief’s service firearm and badge, among other personal items, were inside the vehicle when it disappeared,...

Federal and regional authorities last week arrested a suspect who has been on the run since he killed a victim in Gilroy in November 2017, according to police. On April 19, agents from the the Bay Area OCS-Fugitive Apprehension Team and U.S. Marshals Service were...

A student armed with a kitchen knife at Gilroy High School prompted an evacuation and standoff with police. On Friday, April 27, Gilroy Police responded to a report that a student was brandishing a knife inside a classroom, according to a Facebook post by the...

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee, a 30-year-plus law enforcement veteran, found himself the victim of a crime when someone stole his personal vehicle April 27, according to police. The chief’s service firearm and badge, among other personal items, were inside the vehicle when it disappeared,...

Nearly two months after the death of Steven Juarez in police custody, friends and family of the Gilroyan are not giving up in their effort to demand answers from City Hall and its police department. Specifically, Juarez’ family—consisting of several generations of Gilroy residents—wants to...

California Highway Patrol officers last week issued four citations for motorists who failed to stop for school buses in an enforcement operation in unincorporated Gilroy. Authorities said they also issued one verbal warning, and educated an “untold” number of motorists, parents and students on the...

The City of Gilroy, in its first comment in a month, this week reminded the public that the investigation into the death of Steven Juarez, who died in Gilroy police custody Feb. 25, is still in process. “This investigation is complex and will not be...

The family of Gilroy resident Steven Juarez and about 100 neighbors and friends took to downtown streets on Saturday morning, March 10, demanding answers about last month’s death of the 42-year-old while in police custody. The emotion-laden "Justice for Stevie" march began at the scene...

For local activists and the survivors of Steven Juarez, a chief source of danger in some Gilroy neighborhoods is that entity that is supposed to keep them safe—the Gilroy Police Department. In response to the death of Juarez while in police custody in Old Gilroy,...