Law Enforcement

Two people detained after tagger shoots at LAPD officers
Two people have been detained for questioning in connection with shots that were fired at two Los Angeles officers, but police were still searching the area where the attack occurred, authorities said Thursday night. The two plainclothes narcotics officers saw two men spray painting a building about 7:25 p.m. near Oakwood Avenue and North Heliotrope Drive in East Hollywood, the Los Angeles Police Department said. One of the men fired several rounds at the officers, but no one was injured, LAPD Officer Karen Rayner said.
Los Angeles Times

Barricaded Del Rey man threatening suicide taken into custody by SWAT
A standoff that spanned more than three hours ended Thursday morning when LAPD SWAT officers arrested without incident an emotionally disturbed man who had threatened to kill himself at a home in Del Rey, police said. The incident at 12111 Alberta Ave., just west of Centinela Avenue near the Marina (90) Freeway, began about 2 a.m., when the man called his therapist and said he was going to shoot himself to death, said Sgt. Craig Brown, a watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Station.
Torrance Daily Breeze

LAPD seeks leads in Sherman Oaks burglary
Los Angeles police Thursday were seeking the public's help to identify a man who broke into Cafe Bizou restaurant. The suspect stole $10,000 from the French restaurant in the 14000 block of Ventura Boulevard, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The suspect was described as white, about 160 pounds and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He is about 35 years old, the LAPD said. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Michael O'Connor at (818) 374-0024.
Los Angeles Times

LAUSD cops adopt new truancy policy
The Los Angeles Unified School District's police force is adopting a more moderate truancy policy in an effort to reduce what was seen as unfair targeting of some students. Community groups had complained that the school police and the Los Angeles Police Department were going after students in poor and minority neighborhoods in disproportionate numbers, and writing them truancy tickets even if they were just late for class.
Los Angeles Daily News

In Oakland, support fades for tax to pay for more police
As Oakland voters are deciding whether to approve a parcel tax that would give the city millions of dollars to hire more police officers, key city officials, including City Council members, business leaders and the police union have decided not to support the initiative. Among their chief concerns: how the money will be spent. "We're very interested in, like everybody else, where is this money going to?" said Dom Arotzarena, the president of the Oakland Police Officer's Association.
Bay Citizen

Fox L.A. lot prepares for protests
Employees at Fox's Los Angeles studio lot have been warned to be prepared for protesters today. The parent company will be holding its annual stockholder meeting on the lot at 10 a.m. The human resources department sent around the following memo: "Based on our conversations with the Los Angeles Police Department, the protests may impact employee and visitor entrance through the main gate and possibly Pico West Gate. We are working closely with the LAPD, who will be on hand to monitor the situation, but disruption to traffic conditions in the area should be anticipated."
Television Broadcast

FBI official calls for secure, alternate Internet
The computer networks that control power plants and financial systems will never be secure enough and a new, highly secure alternative Internet should be considered for development, a top FBI official said Thursday. Shawn Henry, the FBI's executive assistant director, said critical systems are under increasing threat from terror groups looking to buy or lease the computer skills and malware needed to launch a cyber attack.
Associated Press

Prisons & Parole

Redefining 'low-level, non-violent' for the sake of public safety
The criminal justice realignment governing incarceration and parole is a bold experiment that has many of us in the law enforcement more than concerned about the potential consequences – unintended or otherwise – on public safety. Adjustments will undoubtedly need to be made as we learn from experience, but a good start would be eliminating from the list of criminal code sections those crimes that by no stretch of the imagination can be considered "low level, non-violent." And because this is a clear matter of the public's safety, we also suggest this be done as soon as possible.
LAPPL Blog

L.A. county sheriff makes hash of prison system
Memo to the boss - any boss: When a long-festering problem at last reaches critical mass and explodes in your face, you should arrange affairs in such a way that you are left with a plausible explanation other than your own corruption or your own incompetence. Such is the choice left to Lee Baca, sheriff of Los Angeles County, who today faces calls for his resignation over an escalating scandal regarding allegations of brutality in the county jails.
Jack Dunphy/Pajamas Media

People