Law Enforcement

Raids at 79 places lead to 12 arrests
A dozen suspected gang members were arrested Wednesday during raids in the central San Fernando Valley as part of an LAPD clampdown on gang violence. Probation and parole searches at 79 locations focused on the Blythe Street Gang, whose members are suspected in the Aug. 5 shooting death of Marco Antonio Gonzalez, 20, of North Hills. Several members and associates of the San Fer gang also were apprehended.
Los Angeles Daily News

LA rapist rearrested 10 days after release
A Los Angeles man who was released this month after serving 22 years in prison for raping three women is back in custody. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Thursday that Lloyd Anthony Roy was rearrested Oct. 11 for possessing pornography, a violation of his parole terms. Roy is being held in the San Bernardino County Jail and his case has been sent to the board of parole hearings for parole revocation. Roy pleaded guilty in 1989 to raping three women and assaulting another.
Associated Press

Dead baby found buried in Angeles National Forest
Police detectives were trying to determine Thursday why a 6-week-old infant was buried in the Angeles National Forest and why the child's death was not reported to authorities. Officials said they learned of the newborn's death Tuesday, when the Los Angeles Police Department's juvenile division received information about it. Detectives and coroner's officials recovered the body and unspecified evidence from the scene, they said. Police added only that the baby died while in the care of his parents, and that they were trying to determine why he was buried in the forest.
Los Angeles Times

Calif. AG considers changing focus
The California attorney general's office has been considering a major restructuring to make white collar and cybercrimes its priority after state budget cuts targeted units that focus on gang and drug enforcement, according to a draft strategy document obtained by The Associated Press. The internal department proposal says units that work with local governments on anti-gang efforts and drug crimes would be eliminated as a way to address an estimated $71 million in budget cuts over the next two fiscal years.
Associated Press

Mich. cop fatally struck by fleeing bank robbers
A Walker (Mich.) Police officer who deployed stop sticks to halt fleeing bank robbery suspects was struck and killed near Interstate 96 in western Michigan on Thursday. The suspects were killed in an ensuing gun battle with police. Officer Trevor Slot was fatally struck near the 8th Street off-ramp of I-96, following the robbery of the ChoiceOne bank in Ravenna.
Police Magazine

Pa. police officer fatally shot, suspect dead
A man who fatally shot a western Pennsylvania police officer before the man himself died at the scene was a fugitive who had threatened police since he was charged in another shooting earlier this month, a prosecutor and police said. Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck says 33-year-old Charlie Arthur Post had been in contact with Lower Burrell police and threatened officers before he fatally shot Officer Derek Kotecki, 40, outside a Dairy Queen about 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
Associated Press

Pensions

Jerry Brown says pension changes will require public vote
Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday that he will propose pension changes requiring a constitutional amendment and a public vote, though he declined to discuss them in any detail. "You'll get all the details very soon," Brown told reporters after speaking at the Milken Institute's State of the State Conference at The Beverly Hilton. The Democratic governor is expected next year to seek voter approval of tax increases.
Sacramento Bee

Prisons

Prison hunger strike ends
The latest hunger strike in state prisons has ended, according to prisoner advocates and California corrections officials. At its peak, more than 4,000 inmates up and down the state were refusing meals in prisons from the Salton Sea to Pelican Bay. The strike, which began Sept. 26, followed one in July over conditions in the system's high-security Security Housing Unit. Activists working with prisoners said Thursday that the strike largely was resolved by prison officials' promise to review the cases of all inmates moved to the SHU because they were identified as gang members.
Los Angeles Times