Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Leimert Park, Tarzana and 11 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 13 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. Leimert Park was the most unusual, recording eight reports compared with a weekly average of 2.9 over the last three months. Tarzana topped the list of two neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD seeks team breaking into apartment laundry rooms
Police asked for the public's help in tracking down a man and woman who broke into apartment complex laundry rooms in the Palms area of Los Angeles, pried open the coin-operated machines and made off with the money. Over the past two weeks, there have been two such burglaries during late night or early morning hours, according to the LAPD. The male suspect was described as being in his late 20s, Hispanic or white, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 155 pounds, with brown hair and eyes.
Torrance Daily Breeze

'Bling Ring' celebrity burglar gets 4-year prison sentence
A key member of the so-called "bling ring" burglary ring accused of breaking into celebrity homes and making off with $3 million in jewels, art and watches was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday for a burglary at reality star Audrina Patridge's house. Rachel Lee, 21, last month pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree residential burglary before Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler as part of the plea bargain, prosecutors said. Prosecutors agreed to drop a felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property.
Los Angeles Times

City Attorney's Office sues Roosevelt Hotel over supergraphics
The City Attorney's Office has filed suit against the landmark Roosevelt Hotel, claiming it erected and maintained illegal supergraphics on its exterior walls. The outdoor advertising signs cited in the lawsuit were oversized billboards owned or operated by In Plain Sight Media Inc. The billboard company is included as a defendant in the suit. The suit claims that the signs, first erected in 2008, lack the required permits, approvals and inspections, putting them in violation of city zoning, building and fire Codes.
Los Angeles Daily News

Prisoner Transfers

California's 'realignment' toward higher crime
To soften the blow to local law enforcement and communities, California politicians are calling one of the largest criminal-justice shifts in state history a "realignment." Sadly, it appears the state's politicians are realigning California toward higher crime, potentially reversing years of declining violent crime. "They keep telling us they'll end up in county jails," Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, tells POLICE Magazine. "What they don't tell you is the majority of the jails in the state are at, over or near capacity. They're not going to stay in jail. That's a lie put out to make the public feel comfortable."
Police Magazine

Most nonviolent offenders turned over to Sacramento County committed serious crimes
The majority of criminal offenders sent to Sacramento County under a new law have serious criminal backgrounds - in contrast to how the law was promoted, county officials say. Since state lawmakers approved the law earlier this year, giving counties responsibility for certain offenders, state correctional officials have said counties will receive offenders who committed crimes that are nonviolent, nonserious, nonsexual. But that refers only to the most recent crime committed by the offender.
Sacramento Bee

Pensions

Los Angeles pension board cuts its expected investment return to 7.75%
Faced with dire warnings about city workers losing their jobs, a Los Angeles pension board voted Tuesday to soften the budget impact of lowering its earnings estimates for the next several years. On a 5-1 vote, the City Employees' Retirement System board decreased its expected investment return from 8% to 7.75% per year. But after hearing from budget officials, union leaders and city workers, the panel agreed to spread the cost of that change over the next five years.
Los Angeles Times

Jerry Brown to propose public pension changes Thursday
Gov. Jerry Brown will give lawmakers his plan for pension changes on Thursday, the governor said in a letter to legislators this afternoon, though it remains unclear what Brown will propose. The Democratic governor has said for weeks that he would propose pension changes this fall. He recently said some of them will require a constitutional amendment and a vote of the people.
Sacramento Bee

City Government

Villaraigosa urges 3-year break on business tax for firms moving to L.A.
In another bid to buff the city's appeal for businesses looking for a new home, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed making permanent a program that gives companies moving into Los Angeles a three-year break on paying the business tax on their gross receipts. Villaraigosa has been pressing an agenda intended to perk up the economy and create jobs. He predicted the City Council would sign on. "I think there's a lot of support for it," he said.
Los Angeles Times

Ballot Initiatives

Death penalty foes launch initiative drive
Capital punishment opponents launched a drive Tuesday to place an initiative on the November 2012 ballot to replace the death penalty in California with a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. Organizers must collect 504,000 valid voter signatures by the March 18 deadline to qualify the initiative for the election. They've dubbed their measure the Savings, Accountability and Full Enforcement for California Act.
San Francisco Chronicle

405 Construction Project

405 Construction Notice: Sunset Bridge & Church Lane
The reconstruction of the Church Lane approach to the Sunset bridge has entered its second week of the 14-day closure. The intersection and utilities have been raised to meet the new height of the reconstructed Sunset Blvd. bridge, with only above surface work remaining for completion. This progress in the schedule will allow for the opening of the SB I-405 Sunset off-ramp from 6:00 am and 10:00 am.
Bel-Air Association Blog