Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Hollywood Hills West, Silver Lake and six other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in eight L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hollywood Hills West was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

Another huge waste of taxpayer dollars. When will the City learn?
At a time when the LAPD is deploying fewer officers to patrol our city's streets and neighborhoods, and when other city services are being curtailed, it is particularly galling that systemic abuses within the Department continue to happen and result in the loss of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through jury awards in cases that could and should have been settled long before they went to trial.
LAPPL Blog

Shooting on Venice boardwalks scatters beach crowds
A man shot on the Venice boardwalk was hospitalized in critical condition. The shooting on Ocean Front Walk near 17th Street occurred about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Los Angeles police Sgt. Darryl Martin said. Police were tight-lipped about the gunfire that reportedly scattered hundreds of people. "It looked like a human tsunami,' one person posted on the Yo! Venice! website.
City News Service

22-year-old man shot and killed at party in Hollywood
A 22-year-old man was killed early Sunday in Hollywood in what authorities believe to be a gang-related shooting. Lorenzo Smith of South Los Angeles was attending a party in the 1600 block of N. La Brea Avenue about 3:10 a.m. when he was shot by an unknown male during a dispute, Los Angeles police Officer Catherine Massey said. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene about half an hour later.
Los Angeles Times

Man found bludgeoned to death in downtown
Police are hoping to learn more about a 47-year-old man who was found dead inside a room at Volunteers of America on Friday morning. The man's body was found by paramedics and police just before 7 a.m. on Friday. He appeared to have been dead for several days, according to preliminary examinations. Managers called authorities after a resident reported a foul odor coming from room B-221 around 6:30 a.m.
Los Angeles Daily News

Teen held in shooting of boy near L.A. High School
A teenager was taken into custody Saturday morning for allegedly shooting a 15-year-old boy who was walking to school, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The shooting occurred about 8 a.m. Friday near 12th Street at Rimpau Boulevard, about a block south of Los Angeles High School, said Officer Norma Eisenman. The victim, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was walking to school when he was confronted by the shooter, Eisenman said.
Los Angeles Times

Crime in the museums
The Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles has just opened what it bills as America's first major museum survey of graffiti. Such an occasion naturally raises two pressing questions: would MOCA demonstrate the slightest twinge of conscience toward the criminal nature of its subject matter? And would viewers be allowed to "tag"-that is, commit graffiti of their own-inside the exhibit? The answer to these questions is most emphatically: No! And No!
City Journal

The Economy

State's unemployment rate dips slightly in March
California's unemployment rate dipped slightly to 12 percent in March, the lowest figure since September 2009, the state reported Friday. The March figure marked the third straight monthly decline for the state's jobless rate and came despite a drop of more than 11,000 nonfarm payroll jobs during the month. Nearly 2.2 million Californians were unemployed in March, down by 79,000 from the same period a year ago, the Employment Development Department said.
Associated Press

Politics

Trutanich takes key step in L.A. County district attorney's race
Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, who pledged two years ago not to seek another political office while working for the city, took a step Friday toward violating his promise by filing papers declaring an interest in running for district attorney. The entry of the city's top lawyer into the campaign to replace Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley would shake up a race that has so far attracted five county prosecutors who are little known outside legal circles.
Los Angeles Times

Prisons & Parole

State court to review long sentences for teens
The state Supreme Court has agreed to review a 16-year-old's 110-year prison sentence for three attempted murders and decide whether juveniles convicted of crimes other than homicide are constitutionally entitled to a realistic chance at parole. The court voted unanimously Wednesday to take up an appeal by a gang member convicted of shooting at three members of rival gangs, and wounding one, in Palmdale in June 2007.
San Francisco Chronicle