San Diego, CA
San Diego police officer accused of planting spyware put on unpaid leave
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A veteran San Diego police officer who was forced by a judge to turn in her firearms after finding she stalked her ex-husband has been put on unpaid leave by the force.
Stephanie Cockrell has been given an ultimatum: apply to transfer to a non-sworn position, take an unpaid leave of absence, or resign, according to court documents she filed Wednesday.
“I was only offered the three options above, or I would be terminated,” Stephanie wrote in a declaration obtained by Team 10.
A judge ordered Stephanie, who has been with the department for 13 years, to turn in her firearms on Oct. 1st after finding she was “less credible” and stalked and harassed her ex-husband, Tyler Cockrell.
Team 10 reported in August that Stephanie was facing termination from the force for stalking, theft, and untruthfulness. After being sworn in as police chief last year, Scott Wahl overturned her termination and allowed her to return to duty.
San Diego police officer accused of placing spy cameras in ex-husband’s home
Hidden cameras, GPS trackers
A months-long investigation revealed Tyler accused his ex-wife of installing spyware and cameras in his home and planting a tracking device on his truck.
Stephanie fought to have her Amazon purchases kept private, but failed after Judge Charles Bell, Jr. ordered some of her online shopping history to be released.
Amol Brown/Team 10
The records revealed Stephanie bought spyware Tyler found in his home, Bell said.
Her purchases included GPS trackers, 11 cameras, and voice recorders.
Tyler also alleged his ex-wife, who admitted in 2016 to hacking the phone of an officer she had an affair with, stalked his girlfriend who is also a San Diego police officer.
The judge, who reviewed a photo of Cockrell’s truck outside the girlfriend’s residence, sided with Tyler and issued a restraining order barring Cockrell from contacting her ex-husband or his children and from possessing firearms or body armor.
Team 10 asked San Diego police for comment on Oct. 7th after learning about the restraining order.
Judge says San Diego police officer stalked ex-husband, orders her to surrender firearms
Officer suing for discrimination
Court records show that on the same day, the department sent Stephanie a letter stating the restraining order “came to their attention.”
“I was directed to immediately relinquish any department-issued weapons and controlled items, including my service pistol, Ruger Carbine, shotgun, AR-15, handgun magazines, police radio, high-capacity magazines, OC, baton, taser, body armor, electronic key card, badge(s), and identification card,” Stephanie wrote in her declaration.
Last month, the officer announced she was suing SDPD for discrimination.
Her attorney told reporters after Wahl let her return to work, rumors spread that she had an affair with him , which she denies.
“She became the target of sexist and degrading rumors that she had an affair with Chief Wahl, that she traded sex for leniency,” said Mila Arutunian, Cockrell’s employment attorney.
Amol Brown/Team 10
Team 10 reported in August the City of San Diego paid over $37,000 to a law firm to launch a confidential investigation into allegations made against Wahl.
Stephanie said in her legal claim last month an anonymous letter sent to the city council alleged she had an affair with the chief and triggered an internal affairs investigation.
‘Heightened personal safety concern’
The officer, who said she has no criminal record or history of violence, is now asking the court to grant her an exemption so she can get both her personal and service-issued firearms back.
She said as a female officer, she is often at a physical disadvantage.
“I have been recognized while off-duty by individuals that I previously arrested, which creates a heightened personal safety concern. Being permitted to carry a firearm while off-duty is a critical component of my ability to protect myself,” she wrote.
Court records show Stephanie was scheduled to undergo a psychological evaluation Thursday — a mandatory requirement before a court can consider restoring an officer’s right to possess firearms.
Stephanie and San Diego police did not respond to Team 10’s requests for comment before press deadline Thursday.
A judge is expected to rule on her request in November.
San Diego, CA
Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks
SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Military bases in San Diego County and nationwide have increased security measures due to last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting traffic delays near base entrances, enhanced ID checks and access restrictions.
The Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado ports three aircraft carriers, including the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which led some of the first-wave attacks on Saturday.
Naval Base Coronado warned motorists of possible traffic delays at all base entry points due to the increased security measures.
Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
The U.S. operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” and Israeli operation, “Raging Lion,” began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.
As of Tuesday, at least six U.S. service members had been killed in action.
The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.
Iran’s offensive forces claimed to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles, but according to an X post from U.S central Command, “The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”
Those with concerns regarding the heightened security can contact San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services at 858-565-3490 or oes@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
San Diego, CA
SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Less than 3 weeks after the San Diego Unified School District finalized a new contract with teachers, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with layoff notices for other district employees.
The layoffs affect classified employees — workers who are employed by the district but are not teachers and are not certified. That includes bus drivers, custodians, special education and teacher aides, and cafeteria workers.
The district says it is eliminating 221 positions — 133 that are currently filled and 88 that are vacant — to save $19 million and help address a projected $47 million deficit for the next fiscal year.
Preliminary layoff notices will go out on March 15, with final notices by May 15.
The district estimates about 200 classified employees will receive preliminary notices, but of them, about 70 are expected to lose their jobs based on union-negotiated bumping rules.
Bumping allows employees with more seniority to move into another position in the same classification, thereby “bumping” a less senior employee out of that role.
Lupe Murray, an early childhood special education parafacilitator with the district, said the news came as a shock after the teacher strike was called off.
“When the strike was called off, I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So then when I got the email from the Superintendent, I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ So, I think everyone was shocked,” Murray said.
The district says it sends out annual layoff notices, as all districts in the state do.
Before Tuesday’s board meeting, classified employees rallied outside, made up of CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapters OTBS 788, Paraeducators 759, and OSS 724. They were joined by parents, students, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Miguel Arellano, a paraeducator independence facilitator with San Diego Unified and a representative of San Diego Paraeducators Cahpter 759.
“What do we want? No layoffs! When do we want it? Now!” the crowd chanted.
Arellano said he felt compelled to act when he learned about the potential layoffs.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that I need to speak up. I need to protect these people,” Arellano said.
Inside the meeting, the board heard emotional, at times tearful testimony from classified employees before voting unanimously to move forward with the layoff schedule.
Superintendent Fabi Bagula said the district has tried to protect classrooms from the cuts.
“We have tried our best to only, I mean, to not touch the school. Or the classroom. But now it’s at the point where it’s getting a little bit harder,” Bagula said. “What I’m still hoping, or what I’m still working toward, because we’re still in negotiations, is that we’re able to actually come to a win-win, where there’s positions and availability and maybe even promotions for folks that are impacted.”
Arellano warned the layoffs could have a direct impact on students.
“We are already spread thin, so, with more of a case load, it’s going to be impossible to be able to service all the students that we need to have,” Arellano said.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
San Diego, CA
Scripps Oceanography granted $15M for deep sea, glacier science
The Fund for Science and Technology, a new private foundation, granted Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego $15 million for ocean science Tuesday.
FFST, funded by the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, was started in 2025 with a commitment to invest at least $500 million over four years to “propel transformative science and technology for people and the planet.”
“Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is pushing boundaries for exploration and discovery across the global ocean,” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “This visionary support from the Fund for Science and Technology will enable Scripps researchers to advance our understanding of our planet, which has meaningful implications for communities around the world.”
The grant, the largest of its kind since Scripps joined UCSD in 1960, will go toward research in three areas: monitoring of environmental DNA and other biomolecules in marine ecosystems, adding to the Argo network of ocean observing robots, and enhancing the study of ocean conditions beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier.”
Scripps Institution of Oceanography has used Argo floats for more than two decades to track climate impacts in our oceans. NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe reports.
“The Fund for Science and Technology was created to support transformational science in the search of answers to some of the planet’s most complex questions,” said Dr. Lynda Stuart, president and CEO at the fund. “Scripps has a long tradition of leadership at the frontiers of ocean and climate science, and this work builds on that legacy — strengthening the tools and insights needed to understand our environment at a truly global and unprecedented scale.”
Scripps Director Emeritus Margaret Leinen will use a portion of the grant in her analysis of eDNA — free-floating fragments of DNA shed by organisms into the environment — in understudied parts of the ocean to collect crucial baseline data on marine organisms, according to a statement from Scripps.
“In many regions, we know very little about the microbial communities that form the base of the ocean food web or that make deep sea ecosystems so unique,” Leinen said. “Without data, we can’t predict how these communities are going to respond to climate change or what the consequences might be. That’s a vulnerability — and this funding will help us begin to address it.”
Using autonomous samplers that can collect ocean water for eDNA analysis, as well as conventional sampling, scientists will use tools to “reveal the biology of the open ocean and polar regions.”
According to Scripps, the international Argo program has more than 4,000 floats that drift with currents and periodically dive to measure temperature, salinity and pressure. Standard floats can record data up to depths of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), while newer Deep Argo floats can dive to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).
The grant funding announced Tuesday will allow for Scripps to deploy around 50 Deep Argo floats along with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
Sarah Purkey, physical oceanographer at Scripps and Argo lead, said this leap forward in deep ocean monitoring comes at a crucial time because the deep sea has warmed faster than expected over the last two decades.
Thwaites Glacier is Antarctica’s largest collapsing glacier and contains enough ice to raise global sea level by roughly two feet if it were to collapse entirely. According to Scripps, prior expeditions led by scientist Jamin Greenbaum discovered anomalously warm water beneath the glacier’s ice shelf — contributing to melting from below. Greenbaum now seeks to collect water samples and other measurements from beneath Thwaites’ ice tongue to disentangle the drivers of its rapid melting.
This season’s Antarctic fieldwork will “test hypotheses about the drivers of Thwaites’ rapid melt with implications for sea-level rise projections,” the statement from Scripps said.
“The ocean holds answers to some of the most pressing questions about our planet’s future, but only if we can observe it,” said Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at UCSD. “This historic grant will help ocean scientists bring new tools and approaches to parts of the ocean we’ve barely begun to explore.”
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