Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Westlake, Echo Park 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. Three neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Westlake was the most unusual, recording 24 reports compared with a weekly average of 16.7 over the last three months. Echo Park topped the list of seven neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Man shot dead at daughter's birthday party in Watts
Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection to the shooting and killing of a man at his stepdaughter's birthday party in Watts. The shooting happened about 11:30 p.m. Saturday in the 9900 block of Anzac Avenue. Police said 31-year-old Jesus Orosco confronted two gang members and told them to stop flashing gang signs at his 18-year-old stepdaughter's birthday party.
ABC7

DPS, LAPD track down suspect with iPhone app
Two suspects in a robbery were apprehended two hours after the student reported the theft of his iPhone because of a cell phone application Friday. A male USC student on the 2300 block of Portland Street was held at knifepoint while walking and listening to music on his phone. The victim called DPS right after the robbery. The Dept. of Public Safety used a GPS tracking device on the cell phone through the MobileMe app to find the suspects.
Daily Trojan

3 shot in LAPD shootout in South LA
Three suspects were shot and hospitalized Friday after a shootout with police in South Los Angeles. Police received reports of a shooting at 2:30 p.m. near 121st and Figueroa streets, said Richard French of the Los Angeles Police Department. "It was a shooting-in-progress call," French said. "When the officers arrived, there were at least three people shooting at each other." Police responded and a gunfight ensued. Three suspects were hit. They were hospitalized. Their conditions were not released. No officers were injured, according to police.
NBC4

Police increasingly under assault: Join the discussion
For several months we've been calling attention to the shocking disconnect between declining crime statistics and increasing assaults on police officers. The problem is growing more acute. The most recent statistics released show that violent attacks on LAPD officers are up by 29 percent over the same period last year. A recent Wall Street Journal story numbers this year's assaults with deadly weapons on LAPD officers at 130. What is causing the rising number of assaults on police officers in Los Angeles and across the nation? We want to hear what you think is going on and what can be done to lessen the dangers police face every day.
LAPPL Blog

L.A. councilman wants to ease city's curfew laws aimed at truants
Claiming daytime curfew laws in Los Angeles are creating a hardship for minorities, a city councilman wants to ease the get-tough policy aimed at truants. "I think it's important to note that we have had a purely punitive way of dealing with this issue," Councilman Tony Cardenas said. "It has been a $250 ticket that is overkill for many of the families." Under the proposal from Cardenas and Councilman Bernard Parks, the Los Angeles Police Department would cease its practice of giving out tickets to young people who are not in school during daytime hours.
Los Angeles Daily News

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show
Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found. Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Los Angeles Times

State Budget Crisis

In California, more cuts are in the cards
California Gov. Jerry Brown already anticipates relying on spending cuts and forgoing higher taxes to balance his state's budget next year, sobered by his deadlock with Republicans over revenue issues this year. "There will be no taxes, as far as I know, by the legislature," he said in an interview this week. The Democrat also said he hasn't decided whether to seek a ballot measure next year that would allow him to bypass the legislature and ask voters to boost taxes-apparently backing off earlier plans to do so.
Wall Street Journal

Legislation

Gun control bill in Gov. Brown's hands
On Gov. Jerry Brown's desk is a bid to bar Californians from openly carrying firearms, legislation that could open a new front in the state's decades-old gun control debate. The measure, aimed at an increasingly popular tactic used by 2nd Amendment activists, would make California the first state since 1987 to outlaw the controversial practice of publicly displaying a weapon. The governor - a gun owner - has not taken an official position on the bill, passed by the Legislature last week. He has argued both sides of gun control issues in the past.
Los Angeles Times

The Economy

California unemployment rate hits 12.1% as employers slash jobs
Unsettled by signs that the recovery is stumbling, California employers in August cut jobs for the second month in a row, helping push the unemployment rate to 12.1% from 12% in July. Payrolls fell by 8,400 positions last month, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. It's a worrisome sign for California's labor market, which has all but ground to halt. California has gained 98,500 jobs in 2011, but almost all of that hiring came early in the year.
Los Angeles Times