Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Beverly Grove, Sunland 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. Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Beverly Grove was the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 0.9 over the last three months. Sunland topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Cal State Northridge student arrested in scare
A 22-year-old philosophy student was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats that set off an evacuation and daylong search of a sprawling library at the California State University, Northridge, campus, a university spokeswoman said Wednesday. Gahren Moradian of Burbank was arrested late Tuesday and booked into Los Angeles County jail, Christina Villalobos said in a statement. The four-story Oviatt Library was evacuated Tuesday morning after a passerby told a library staff member there was someone lying on a bench outside the library mumbling about having a gun and planning to use it.
Associated Press

High-heeled bandit 'armed and dangerous,' police say
Police have released surveillance pictures of a woman wanted in the armed robbery of a Van Nuys coin and jewelry store. Police say the woman entered the store around 11:00 a.m. Monday and posed as a customer. She allegedly pulled a revolver out of her purse. She pointed the gun at a store employee and ordered him to fill her bag, police said. The woman made off with an unknown number of vintage coins, valued at between $12,000 and $100,000. Police said the woman is "armed and dangerous."
Los Angeles Times

Californians remain staunchly in favor of death penalty, poll finds
As death penalty opponents work to get a ballot measure before California voters next fall to abolish capital punishment, a new Field Poll indicates the initiative would be a tough sell. More than two-thirds of state voters - 68 percent - favor keeping the death penalty, the poll found, with 27 percent favoring abolition and 5 percent expressing no opinion.
Sacramento Bee

Rape definition too narrow in federal statistics, critics say
Thousands of sexual assaults that occur in the United States every year are not reflected in the federal government's yearly crime report because the report uses an archaic definition of rape that is far narrower than the definitions used by most police departments. Many law enforcement officials and advocates for women say that this underreporting misleads the public about the prevalence of rape and results in fewer federal, state and local resources being devoted to catching rapists and helping rape victims.
New York Times

National Police Remembrance Day commemorates fallen colleagues in Australia
Australian police will recognize 750 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty as part of National Police Remembrance Day today in Australia. This year, Queensland Police officers Sergeant Daniel Stiller and Detective Senior Constable Damian Leeding will have their names added to National Police Memorial wall in Canberra, recognizing those who have given their lives since the first recorded police death in 1803.
Australian Federal Police

Homeland Security

Mass. man accused of plotting attack on Pentagon, Capitol
A Massachusetts man was arrested and charged Wednesday with plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with a remote-controlled aircraft filled with plastic explosives, federal officials said. Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, of Ashland, was also charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers stationed overseas. Ferdaus was arrested Wednesday in Framingham when undercover federal agents delivered materials he had requested for his alleged plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what Ferdaus believed was C-4 explosive.
MSNBC

Immigration

U.S. makes deported immigrants take the long way home
Officials have expanded a program to transfer detainees from one end of the U.S.-Mexico border to the other, saying it's a deterrent to further crossing attempts. Under the transfer program, many immigrants who are caught in California are flown to Texas border cities, and the flights return west filled with immigrants caught in Texas. In Arizona, immigrant groups are divided, with some deported through Texas and others through California.
Los Angeles Times

Prisons

State officials warn of discipline for inmates on hunger strike
State corrections officials today threatened to discipline thousands of inmates who have resumed a hunger strike over conditions at California's highest-security lockups. A state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation memo distributed to all state inmates said any prisoner participating in the strike would receive disciplinary action "in accordance with the California Code of Regulations."
California Watch

City Government

L.A. City Council meeting canceled because of absentees
For the second time this year, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday was forced to cancel its meeting due to a lack of a quorum - even though four members were only a few floors away in another meeting. City Council President Eric Garcetti canceled the meeting at 10:20 a.m. when it became apparent the council would not have the necessary 10 members on hand - pushing the 34 items on the day's agenda until Friday's scheduled meeting.
Los Angeles Daily News