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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

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Los Angeles
Police Protective League

the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers

 

Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest

from LA Police Protective League

February 15, 2011

Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Reseda, Mar Vista and eight other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 10 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Eight neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Reseda was the most unusual, recording 13 reports compared with a weekly average of 4.4 over the last three months. Mar Vista topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 19 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 10.6 over the last three months. One neighborhood triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.
Los Angeles Times


Federal suit challenges curfews imposed by gang injunctions
In their ongoing battle against the city's entrenched gangs, Los Angeles prosecutors and police increasingly have relied in recent years on a favorite legal weapon: court-ordered injunctions. Now, a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month in Los Angeles has taken aim at the nighttime curfews written into 21 of the injunctions. Olu Orange, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the terms of the curfews, which prohibit going outside after 10 p.m., are so broad and vague as to violate a person's constitutional rights.
Los Angeles Times


Police layoffs make crime-plagued Camden all the worse

From the windows of R.C. Molina Elementary School, teacher's aide Carla Noville could see the Camden, N.J. police patrolling at Seventh and Vine streets, keeping the corner by the playground relatively free of the drug dealing that plagues this city. Just last July, Mayor Dana Redd declared Sixth Street, a block over, a "safe corridor" that police would patrol heavily to beat back the corner drug trade. That was before crime-ridden Camden - the poorest city in New Jersey and a byword for urban failure - cut its police force nearly in half to balance a $26 million budget deficit.
USA Today


State & Municipal Budget Crises

Vote no on Measure L
Millions of dollars that used to pay for library staff and book purchases now have to be spent on utilities and employee benefits, forcing deep cuts in library services. In response, library supporters have advanced Measure L, which would mandate that more dollars be spent on the library without raising taxes. It's a laudable goal, but it's a bad solution to the difficult budget problems caused by the economic downturn. The Times urges a no vote on Measure L.
Los Angeles Times Editorial

Legislative analyst identifies massive cuts if taxes fail
If lawmakers pursue a cuts-only budget to solve the state's $26.6 billion deficit, they could eliminate class-size reduction, require that kindergarten students be 5 years old at enrollment and hike university tuition by another 7 to 10 percent, according to a new review by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. There's also a stark option for state workers: reduce pay by an additional 9.24 percent (equal to two furlough days) and reduce state contributions to employee health care by 30 percent.
Sacramento Bee

Obama's budget would trim funds to California

For struggling California, President Obama's proposed budget will provide less money for a state government awash in its own red ink, less energy assistance for tens of thousands of poor households and less funding for projects such as those aimed at reducing beach pollution and neighborhood blight. And that's just a starting point in the eyes of the House's new GOP majority, which is determined to wield the ax a lot more to reduce a record deficit.
Los Angeles Times


Pensions

Taking aim at pensions
Eager to expand the police force, then-Mayor Richard Riordan helped persuade voters a decade ago to sweeten the pensions for public safety employees. Now, with pension costs threatening to overwhelm the budget, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council are urging voters to go in the opposite direction. Measure G, on the city's March ballot, would offer lower retirement benefits to police officers and firefighters hired after July 1, and require them to pay more into the system. The measure wouldn't save much in the near term, but it's an important step toward the city's long-term health. The Times urges a yes vote on Measure G.
Los Angeles Times Editorial

CalPERS acknowledges federal criminal investigation of bribery scandal
CalPERS officials acknowledged that federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into the bribery scandal afflicting the big California pension fund. In a report to the CalPERS board, senior staff members wrote that "federal prosecutors in California" have sought millions of pages of documents and other information from the pension fund and the Washington lawyer who has been investigating the matter. The existence of a criminal investigation was reported last spring by the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources.
Sacramento Bee


Prisons

California wants to stop phones used by likes of Manson
California prison officials seized nearly 11,000 cell phones last year, some used to arrange extortions and assaults, others used by the likes of cult killer Charles Manson to connect with the outside world after more than four decades behind bars. Manson became an unlikely face of the prison cell phone problem after he was caught calling and texting people in California, Florida, New Jersey and British Columbia. He had missed calls from Arkansas, Indiana and Massachusetts on the phone that guards discovered in March 2009, and he was caught with a second phone last month.
Fresno Bee


Politics

Dianne Feinstein backs Janice Hahn for Jane Harman congressional seat
Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has been frenetically lining up support in her bid to replace retiring Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), scored the endorsement Monday of fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein, California's senior U.S senator and one of the state's most popular, longtime officeholders. Hahn, from San Pedro, announced her candidacy, hired a campaign staff and activated her Janice Hahn.com website within hours after Harman told supporters last week she was stepping down to lead a Washington think tank.
Los Angeles Times

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About the LAPPL Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:

www.LAPD.com


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