NCJ Number
181768
Journal
Law Enforcement Quarterly Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: Winter 1999-2000 Pages: 28-35
Date Published
1999
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Police officers and prosecutors in San Diego, Calif., describe the 10 most significant events in the area’s law enforcement and disaster history over the past 100 years, as well as police involvement and responses to these events.
Abstract
The collision of a Pacific Southwest Airlines plan and a single-engine Cessna resulted in 150 fatalities and the involvement of more than 1,500 officers from the San Diego Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. Other significant events were the 1989 murder by Elizabeth Broderick of her former husband and his second wife, scandals involving the prosecution of municipal officials for corruption, and the suicides of 39 members of a little-known cult called Heaven’s Gate. Other events included the massacre of 21 men, women, children, and babies and the wounding of 19 others at a McDonald’s restaurant; a 1965 shootout following the murder of a pawnshop employee; efforts to deal with bootleggers during Prohibition; and the three strikes law enacted in 1994. Further events include the conviction of a multimillionaire known as Mr. San Diego for embezzlement, tax evasion, and grand theft; also, the stealing of an Army tank in 1995. Photographs