Law Enforcement

LAPD, FBI solved 50 homicides over the summer
Los Angeles Police announced the results of a joint operation with the FBI to crack unsolved murder cases on Tuesday. Police Chief Charlie Beck said the results of the summer-long program called "Operation Save Our Streets" was "remarkable." Fifty homicide cases were solved during a three-month period, he said, and police made 110 felony arrests. Other successes included 75 search warrants and contacts FBI agents and detectives made with over 500 witnesses, suspects and community members.
Southern California Public Radio

Suicide-by-cop possible in Sun Valley shooting
A man fatally shot by officers in Sun Valley may have been trying to commit suicide by cop, family members said. Los Angeles police officers responded to a report of someone shooting in the air about 5 a.m. Sunday and confronted Julio Sandoval, 47, near Vineland Avenue and Valerio Street, authorities said. Sandoval reportedly pointed a rifle at the officers, who fired on him. He died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. No officers were hurt. Family members told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that Sandoval had been distraught the night before and called police himself, saying he was carrying a gun.
Los Angeles Times

Man with knife shot by LAPD officer in Mar Vista
A Los Angeles police officer shot and wounded a man with a knife after a traffic stop Tuesday morning in Mar Vista. The shooting took place about 2:15 a.m. when an officer stopped a driver at Washington Place and Centinela Avenue, said Officer Rosario Herrera. During the stop, the man grew combative and wielded a knife, police said. The officer shot and wounded him, Herrera said. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition, she said. It was unclear how many officers were involved in the confrontation, she said, but no officers were injured.
Los Angeles Times

Shooting victims tell LAPD they were attacked by man on bike
Two shooting victims told officers Tuesday night that they were shot by a gunman on a bike as they drove in their vehicle in South Los Angeles, police said. The victims, two adult males, were in the vehicle with a woman when they flagged down a California Highway Patrol officer near Crenshaw Boulevard and West 57th Street in Hyde Park and told him about the shooting, the Los Angeles Police Department said. One of the men was wounded in the thigh, and the other was struck in the arm, Officer Karen Rayner said.
Los Angeles Times

Police urge residents to use more caution to reduce property crimes, traffic accidents
Speaking at a meeting of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council on Monday night, two Los Angeles police captains said the LAPD needs the public's cooperation to combat property crimes and traffic accidents in the area. Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys log a low number of violent crimes, but the high rate of area property crimes poses a tough challenge to police, said Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Paul Snell. Snell, who took the job as head of the Van Nuys Division of the Valley Bureau six months ago, and Capt. Ivan Minsal of the LAPD Valley Traffic Division provided a law enforcement overview to Neighborhood Council members.
Sherman Oaks Patch

Rand reconsiders pot-shop study after L.A. city attorney complains
Rand Corp. has removed a controversial study on crime and medical marijuana dispensaries from its website while it reviews the conclusions, a decision that came almost three weeks after the Los Angeles city attorney's office criticized the report and demanded that it be retracted immediately. The study came to the counterintuitive conclusion that crime went up near Los Angeles dispensaries last year after the city's medical marijuana ordinance took effect.
Los Angeles Times

FBI rolling out nationwide face search and recognition system
The FBI intends to go nationwide with a facial recognition service; testing will begin in Michigan, Washington, Florida and North Carolina by the middle of January 2012. By 2014, this new face search tool will be available to criminal justice professionals nationwide. One of the goals is to put a name to every photo already collected by law enforcement. For example, the FBI may have a picture on hand of Joe Doe but not know his name, and is therefore unable to determine if Doe is a "person of interest."
Network World

State & City Budgets

California's continued revenue slide could trigger cuts
California missed the revenue mark again in September by collecting $301.6 million less than state leaders expected when they approved this year's budget, according to Controller John Chiang. For the first three months of the fiscal year, from July to September, California has fallen $705.5 million, or 3.6 percent, behind what state leaders expected by this point. The gap is roughly equivalent to the July through September share of the $4 billion revenue spike that Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers used to close the budget in June.
Sacramento Bee

L.A. may face layoffs if projected pension fund returns are cut
A new round of layoffs could be required at Los Angeles City Hall next year if estimates of future returns on pension fund investments are reduced, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned Tuesday. The City Employees' Retirement System pension board met Tuesday to consider decreasing the assumed annual rate of return for its $11-billion investment portfolio from 8% to 7.75%. The decision was postponed, however, after Villaraigosa and four City Council members sent a last-minute letter warning that such a move could cost the city budget $50 million next year.
Los Angeles Times

Homeland Security

U.S. accuses Iranians of plotting to kill Saudi envoy
The United States on Tuesday accused Iranian officials of plotting to murder Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States in a bizarre scheme involving an Iranian-American used-car salesman who believed he was hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million. The alleged plot also included plans to pay the cartel, Los Zetas, to bomb the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Saudi and Israeli Embassies in Argentina, according to a law enforcement official.
New York Times