Prisoner Transfers

Sheriff's, Probation departments brace for shift of inmates, increased caseloads
Probation officials shifted caseloads on Thursday while the sheriff's department finalized security plans as Los Angeles County braced for this weekend's overhaul of California's correctional system. The so-called "prison realignment" beginning Saturday will transfer the state's responsibility for lower-level drug offenders, thieves and other convicts to county jurisdictions. An estimated 9,000 parolees will be added to the caseloads of the Probation Department, whose workers already oversee inmates released from county jails.
Los Angeles Daily News

California prison pushback
Starting Saturday, California counties no longer will send many of their nonviolent felons to state prisons, instead keeping thousands in local jails or even in home detention. The move aims to ease prison overcrowding that resulted in a stinging U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May. But Gov. Jerry Brown is facing unrest among some local law-enforcement chiefs, who worry the state won't adequately compensate them for the added costs.
Wall Street Journal

Law Enforcement

Police use Taser, bean bags on man at San Pedro boat repair shop
Officers using Tasers and bean bags arrested a 34-year-old man Thursday in San Pedro on suspicion of making criminal threats against his estranged wife and their child, police said. Aaden Brindamour was arrested shortly after midnight at the end of a protracted confrontation at a boat repair facility in the 2000 block of South Mesa Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Four arrested in Van Nuys for violating gang injunction
Four young men pulled over in traffic stop in Van Nuys were being booked for violating a gang injunction Wednesday night, police said. Patrol officers made a traffic stop at Saticoy and Van Nuys Boulevard about 5:20 p.m., and at least a couple of the men ran, Los Angeles police Sgt. Alan Kreitzman of the Van Nuys Station said. Eventually, all four were arrested and taken to the Van Nuys Station for booking, he said.
Los Angeles Daily News

North Hollywood mom allegedly leaves 4-year-old at scene in alleged DUI crash, infant and baby home alone
A 35-year-old woman remained behind bars Thursday on suspicion of drunken driving and child endangerment after crashing her car in North Hollywood and running away, leaving her 4-year-old child at the scene while her two other very young children were home alone, police said. Lisette Gonzalez Avakian was discovered hiding behind some bushes near the scene of the crash and arrested by officers, according to police.
Los Angeles Daily News

BART police to wear cameras
BART police are wearing small video cameras in a test project aimed at increasing transparency in the agency -- which has come under scrutiny for fatal shootings. Police several weeks ago began testing six clip-on cameras. Officers switch on the cameras before all interactions with people in the field to create a permanent record, officials said. "They are the next wave of technology in law enforcement," said Ben Fairnow, BART deputy police chief. "In the end, we're all human, and you can get two people who see the same event differently."
Contra Costa Times

Prisons

Inmates renew hunger strike over high-security units
Corrections officials confirmed Thursday that more than 4,200 prison inmates across California have launched a new hunger strike to protest conditions in high-security units. The strike began Monday. As of Thursday, the inmates in eight facilities from Pelican Bay to the Tehachapis had missed eight meals, the Department of Corrections said in a statement. It comes two months after a three-week strike in July, which concluded once prison officials promised to consider improvements in living conditions.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

Gov. Jerry Brown signs two public safety bills, vetoes a third
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed measures that improve tracking of sex offenders and violent criminals, but vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for suspected gang members to get out of court injunctions that limit their activity. Brown signed AB 44, which extends from 45 to 60 days the period in which California prisons must notify a sheriff or police chief of the scheduled release of an inmate convicted of a "violent" felony. Brown also signed SB 622, which clarifies that sex offenders convicted in another state must register with authorities in California.
Los Angeles Times

The Courts

U.S. Supreme Court to decide major legal issues
The U.S. Supreme Court, in the 2011-12 term that starts Monday, will examine the legality of secret police tracking of motorists - including the tracking of a man later convicted of murdering a Bay Area journalist - as well as jailhouse strip searches and cuts in California's Medi-Cal fees. As important as those cases are, they are overshadowed by two issues the justices are likely to add to their docket in the next few months: a state's authority to regulate immigration and the federal government's authority to regulate health insurance.
San Francisco Chronicle

Immigration

Fatal accident puts focus on deportation program
A fatal accident that the police say involved an illegal immigrant driving drunk has stirred outrage in Massachusetts and put Gov. Deval Patrick on the defensive for his resistance to a federal program intended to deport criminals. According to the police, the immigrant, Nicolas Guaman from Ecuador, struck and killed a young motorcyclist in Milford last month while intoxicated, dragging him for a quarter of a mile. Mr. Guaman has a previous criminal record, the police said, and many here have pointed to his case as an example of why the federal program, known as Secure Communities, is necessary.
New York Times