Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Hollywood Hills, University Park 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. Six 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. It recorded 27 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 14.8 over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD officer puts a muzzle on illegal animal sales
Los Angeles is cracking down on illegal animal sales. Thousands are sold on downtown streets every year. Recently, an ordinance went into effect that raises fines on the buyers, but curtailing this underground economy will not be easy. Behind the wheel of an undercover car, Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andrew Smith admits the nickname Dr. Dolittle isn't the toughest moniker a cop could have. "But I guess it fit OK, and I didn't really mind," he says. Over the years, Smith became well-known for having a soft spot for the tossed-away animals found on LA's downtown streets - its fashion district sitting at the heart of the illegal animal sales.
NPR

5 arrested in L.A. area in illegal driver's license case
California Department of Motor Vehicles investigators and Los Angeles police Wednesday arrested five people suspected of producing fake driver's licenses and identification cards and selling unauthorized licenses. The people, two of them former DMV employees, were arrested in two separate actions as investigators and police served search warrants in Venice, Pacific Palisades, West Hollywood, San Marino and Monrovia, authorities said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD seeks leads on woman whose body was found in scrap yard
Los Angeles police are offering a $50,000 reward for information that helps identify a woman whose decomposed body was found last year in a recycling yard. The woman' dental work was sent to the California Dental Assn. in hopes that a dentist might recognize the work and contact authorities, the Los Angeles Police Department said Thursday. Authorities believe that the woman was white and between 50 and 70 years old. Her body was found Sept. 10, 2010, in the recycling yard near downtown, the LAPD said.
Los Angeles Times

Man poses as neighbor before tying up woman in Van Nuys home invasion robbery
Police say a man posed as a kindly neighbor before returning the following day to tie up and rob a Van Nuys woman in her home. The thief is at-large, according to authorities. The home invasion occurred in the 4400 block of Sylmar Avenue on Tuesday about 2:50 p.m., said Detective Glenn O'Shea of the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys Division. The victim says the same man showed up at her door on Monday.
CBS2

U.S. District Court: Videotaping police is 1st Amendment activity
On Monday, the First U.S. Circuit of Appeals out of Boston weighed in on a crucial issue for police accountability activists by ruling that citizens may videotape police officers are protected by the First Amendment. The ruling comes at a critical time when prosecutors and police in several states aside from Massachusetts are arresting and charging citizens with violations of wiretapping laws for recording police. In California, a Vallejo man was arrested in April by local police for filming an arrest from within his garage.
KALW

Emergency radio woes persist 10 years after 9/11
Amid the chaos of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, emergency responders found they could not communicate with each other. That problem persists 10 years later, according to a review of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. A National Preparedness Group report released Wednesday concludes that the recommendation that a nationwide broadband network for emergency responders be created "continues to languish."
CBS News

Police say LA Hispanic gang behind Ohio cocaine bust
Police said the 12 kilograms of cocaine seized Tuesday in Greater Cincinnati was supplied by a Hispanic gang from Los Angeles and destined for sale on the streets of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Butler County. The seizure was the result of a year-long joint investigation by Hamilton Police, Cincinnati Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Butler County Prosecutor's Office. Five men were arrested and charged with conspiracy to trafficking in drugs.
Kentucky Post

Politics

Villaraigosa backs Janice Hahn for new congressional district seat
Recently seated Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro) has picked up the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in her bid to seek election next year to a newly drawn congressional district that stretches north from the harbor area, where she lives, into Carson, Compton, Lynwood and South Gate. Villaraigosa said it was a "no brainer" for him to back Hahn, a former Los Angeles city councilwoman, "because I know she'll fight for more jobs, and Los Angeles, in Congress."
Los Angeles Times

L.A. lawmakers try to sell NFL stadium plan to colleagues
As Anschutz Entertainment Group and its myriad backers roam the halls of the state Capitol crafting a last-minute bill to help pave the way for a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, they face what is a perennial problem in Sacramento: Nobody likes L.A. Not legislators from Northern California, many of whom are dyed-in-the-Gore-Tex environmentalists whose constituents will probably never attend a football game in the metropolis to the south.
Los Angeles Times