Irvine : 200 Law Enforcement Officials Attend Seminar

About 200 California law enforcement officials converged in Irvine on Monday for a statewide seminar on extradition.

During the two-day seminar, sheriff’s deputies, correction officers and assistant district attorneys will learn about handling extradition requests and orders from interstate and international agencies.

“There is a growing tendency now for wanted persons to flee the jurisdictions of courts,” said Al Howenstein Jr., executive director of the governor’s office of criminal justice planning, the seminar’s sponsor. “We want our officials to be keen on all the complexities involved in the process.”

Last year, this state was engaged in extradition proceedings involving about 1,600 wanted suspects and prisoners, according to statistics from the governor’s office.

Sen. Pete Wilson (R.-Calif), who was scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Colombian drug trafficking, canceled his visit because of a commitment in Washington, seminar organizers said. He was replaced by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Vance Raye.

Raye, who previously served as Gov. George Deukmejian’s legal affairs secretary, said: “We decided early on in the administration that we would abide by the letter and spirit of the extradition act, and California would not become a refuge for those who thought themselves unjustly accused in other states.”