<p class="main-content side-txt">More than 80 law enforcement officers working today in
                                California are convicted
                                criminals, with rap sheets that include everything from animal cruelty to
                                manslaughter.
                                They drove drunk, cheated on timecards, brutalized family
                                members, even killed others
                                with their recklessness on the road. But thanks to some of the weakest laws in the
                                country for punishing police misconduct, the Golden State does nothing to stop these
                                officers from enforcing the law.
                                Those are among the findings of <a href="https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/11/10/california-criminal-cops-project-origins-and-participating-newsrooms/2543809001/">an
                                    unprecedented collaboration of
                                    newsrooms</a>—including
                                USA TODAY Network publications The Desert Sun, Ventura County Star, Redding Record
                                Searchlight, Salinas Californian and Visalia Times Delta—which spent six months
                                examining how California deals with cops who break the law.

                            </p>

                            <br>
                            <p class="main-content-show">The review found 630 officers convicted of a crime in the last
                                decade—an average of more
                                than one a week. After DUI and other serious driving offenses, domestic violence was the
                                most common charge. More than a quarter of the cases appear never to have been reported
                                in the media until now. And nearly one out of five officers in the review are still
                                working or kept their jobs for more than a year after sentencing.</p>
                          
                            <br>
                           
                            <p class="main-content-show">(It’s a small percentage of the 79,000 sworn officers across
                                the
                                state. But exactly how many cops with convictions are still on the beat today—or even
                                the number of officers convicted over the last decade—is far from clear. Hindered by
                                some of the strictest secrecy laws in the country, California residents don’t really
                                know who is carrying a gun and patrolling their streets.)</p>