Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Hollywood Hills and six other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in seven 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 was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months. University Park topped the list of two neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD running DUI checkpoint in Topanga
What the Los Angeles Police Department calls an "intensive crackdown on impaired driving," is bringing sobriety checkpoints to neighborhoods across the city, including Friday night in Topanga. From 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, officers will be stopping cars to check for drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol near the corner of Topanga Boulevard and Califa Street in Topanga. Officers will also be checking to make sure drivers are properly licensed.
Los Angeles Daily News

2 men smash glass door, take medications from Westside pharmacy
Los Angeles police Wednesday were looking for two burglars who smashed a glass door at a Westside pharmacy and stole medications. The thieves took the drugs about 5 a.m. from a store in the 11500 block of Santa Monica Boulevard in the Sawtelle neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The LAPD released video surveillance footage of the Aug. 20 break-in to help drum up leads. The video shows a man smashing the glass, then moving aside as another man enters the pharmacy and later reappears with a black bag as he flees.
Los Angeles Times

FBI selects Timothy J. Delaney to head L.A. criminal
The FBI has appointed a former accountant with two decades' experience investigating white-collar crime, including healthcare fraud and political corruption, as the new head of its criminal division in Los Angeles. Timothy J. Delaney has been named special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office's criminal division, the bureau announced Wednesday.
Los Angeles Times

Suspicious packages swamp law enforcement
An unrelenting stream of suspicious package reports - and the need to investigate all potential threats in the post-9/11 world - is stretching federal and local law enforcement agencies in New York and Washington. One of the many legacies of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, police agencies depend more than ever on the public to vigilantly report suspicious activity, knowing their cooperation means authorities will be buried in reports, most of which turn out to be nothing.
USA Today

Prisons & Parole

With L.A. County taking over supervision of 10,000 felons from the state, will crime increase?
Come October 1, Los Angeles County will assume supervision of an estimated-over the next four years-10,000 non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offender felons coming out of state prisons. Sheriff Lee Baca, who oversees the county jails, says that with about 4,500 beds to spare, his jails likely won't have room for the 7,000 to 9,000 inmates that are expected to arrive in the first year. For this reason, non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offender convicts, referred to as N3s, may be released early.
Southern California Public Radio

Homeland Security

9/11 Commission heads issue security-gap warning
The heads of the 9/11 Commission issued a new report Wednesday warning of continued shortfalls in anti-terror measures adopted in the wake of the 2001 al Qaeda attacks against the United States. Specifically, the report highlights nine commission recommendations that remain unfulfilled since they were proposed in 2004. Among other things, former commission members harped on the need for greater unity of command among various emergency response agencies and their inability in many cases to communicate via radio with each other during a crisis.
CNN

Immigration

Bill would let illegal immigrant students get aid
The state Senate on Wednesday approved the second half of contentious legislation that would allow students who are illegal immigrants to apply for state-funded scholarships and financial aid. The Senate approved AB131, also known as the California Dream Act, with a 22-11 vote, leaving it just one step away from the governor's desk. The state Assembly must consider changes to the bill it previously passed before it can go to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Associated Press

Legislation

'Open carry' ban bill's author says it's not dead
The State Senate moved a bill to outlaw the "open carry" of unloaded firearms in public places to its inactive file, but the bill's author insists it's definitely not dead. "AB 144 is not dead; it's a procedural move, it will be taken up soon," Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, said Wednesday. AB 144 would make it a crime to openly carry an unloaded handgun in any public place or street. Violations are a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1000.
Inside Bay Area

Pensions

Jerry Brown poised to take on pensions
After months of virtual silence on rolling back public pensions, Gov. Jerry Brown is about to resurrect the issue. As the Capitol gears up for another round of budget talks, word is that Brown also plans to put forward a pension agenda for next year. He's been circumspect about the details, although recent history hints at his plans. "I've got a whole bunch of pension ideas I've been working on, and I'll announce those relatively soon," Brown said this week in an interview with Bee reporter David Siders.
Sacramento Bee