Law Enforcement

LAPD moves 150 officers to deal with freed prisoners
The Los Angeles Police Department will remove 150 officers from patrol and other assignments to deal with the fallout from a state-mandated plan to reduce prison overcrowding, a move that Police Chief Charlie Beck said will slow response times to 911 calls. Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined forces Monday to criticize the state's attempt to relieve severe prison overcrowding, saying it has unfairly saddled the LAPD with a burden that the department does not have the resources to address.
Los Angeles Times

Crime reports up significantly in 18 Los Angeles neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 18 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Eleven neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Sunland was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.5 over the last three months. Vermont Knolls topped the list of eight neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Police: 'Man says, why don't you shoot me, so his friend did'
A man was in custody on Monday after killing his friend with a shot to the head as both sat drinking in a car parked in the backyard of a home in South Los Angeles, police said. The shooting occurred in the 200 block of West 50th Street around 8 p.m. Sunday, said Sgt. Dino Caldera of the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Station. "They were in an argument," Caldera said. "The victim said something like, `well why don't you shoot me,' and he did."
Torrance Daily Breeze

Occupy Los Angeles Protest

Occupy LA protesters say they will stay at City Hall until December
Occupy LA protesters say they will continue to demonstrate and camp out at Los Angeles City Hall until December. About 100 people were in an encampment of tents and signs along 1st and Main streets on Monday, two days after the first demonstration took place in downtown Los Angeles. In solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York, the protesters in Los Angeles are sounding off against bank bailouts. They said the banks are to blame for the failing economy.
ABC7

New Laws

Gov. Brown signs law rescuing radio network for state's first responders
A radio network linking Los Angeles County's 34,000 first responders can move forward under a new state law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill, authored by South Bay Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, helps save more than $270 million in federal grants for the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System, or LA-RICS. The funds were in danger after initial efforts to build the system ground to a halt in July when the county's lawyers discovered the contract did not comply with state contract laws.
Torrance Daily Breeze

California Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill for some searches without warrants
Starting next year, police will be able to make warrantless searches of plants that make commercial copies of compact discs and movie DVDs, now that California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill to crack down on piracy of intellectual property. The bill, SB 550 by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), allows inspections of so-called replicating plants to ensure they are not illegally copying entertainment discs.
Los Angeles Times

Brown signs commutation limits for Calif. Governor
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday responded to a controversial decision by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by announcing he had signed a bill that slows down the governor's ability to grant clemency to convicted criminals. Just hours before leaving office in January, Schwarzenegger commuted the voluntary manslaughter sentence of Esteban Nunez from 16 years to seven. Nunez is the son of former California Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez, a Schwarzenegger ally when both were in office.
Associated Press

New state law speeds protective orders against batterers
Thanks to a couple of determined Santa Clara County prosecutors, domestic-violence victims throughout the state will soon be able to obtain long-term protective orders the instant their assailants are convicted, rather than endure a multistep process that can drag on for months. The new state law rectifies a situation that has long troubled advocates against domestic violence.
San Jose Mercury-News

Pensions

SF pension reform donors tied to antiunion efforts
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is billing his pension reform measure on the Nov. 8 ballot as a progressive effort to protect city services for children, seniors and the poor - and has bristled at the notion it's an attack on unions. But the two main contributors to Proposition D - venture capitalist Michael Moritz and businessman George Hume, who have donated $250,000 apiece - have also contributed to Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin who supported those states' polarizing, national-headline-grabbing efforts this year to curb unions' rights dramatically.
San Francisco Chronicle

Prisons

Prison hunger strikers now number 12,000, advocates say
Advocates for California prison inmates conducting a hunger strike said the number of participants has swelled to 12,000, making it possibly the largest prison strike in recent U.S. history. The inmates are eight days into a renewed hunger strike after they suspended a previous strike in July.
Los Angeles Times