Special City Election

Buscaino tops 15th District race, will face Furutani in runoff
In one of the most closely watched Harbor Area political contests in years, Los Angeles police Officer Joe Buscaino and Assemblyman Warren Furutani emerged as the top vote-getters Tuesday in a crowded field to fill Janice Hahn's vacant Los Angeles City Council seat. The two will face each other in a Jan. 17 runoff election. With all of the precincts counted in Tuesday's special election, Buscaino finished with 29.1 percent, followed by Furutani with 22.3 percent.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Law Enforcement

California appeal court limits traffic stop automobile searches
Refusing to get out of a vehicle during a traffic stop does not justify a search of the automobile, the California Court of Appeal ruled Friday. The three-judge panel further developed the US Supreme Court's finding in Arizona v. Gant that arresting a motorist does not automatically authorize a warrantless search.
The Newspaper.com

Stolen MacBook's software lets cops know where it is
A 29-year-old who allegedly bought a stolen MacBook computer was busted ... by the computer, cops say. Abimael Garcia was arrested by the LAPD after tracking software installed by the notebook's owner captured him using the machine and came up with his location, the LAPD announced Tuesday. The owner is a 21-year-old USC student who then went to police with screen shots of the computer's new owner, the LAPD said. The security software she installed also figured out where the Apple was, apparently.
LA Weekly

Case puts spotlight on police weapons exemptions
A federal investigation into weapons dealing by officers in three Sacramento-area law enforcement agencies has shined a light on provisions in California law that allow peace officers to buy guns, high-capacity magazines and even assault weapons that are illegal for the general public. Officers need only show their law enforcement credentials to buy ammunition clips that exceed the usual 10-round limit and handguns that are not available to others.
Associated Press

Crowding could impact jail time for Jackson's doc
Michael Jackson's doctor is guaranteed to spend the next three weeks in jail awaiting sentencing for the pop star's death. But the amount of time Dr. Conrad Murray serves after that could be shortened because of the overcrowded prison system in California. A recently enacted realignment plan diverts nonviolent offenders such as Murray from state prisons to county jails to save money and reduce the state prison population to obey a federal court order.
Associated Press

Bullet proof vest maker pays $1 million penalty for selling defective products
A maker of bulletproof vests that contained Zylon agreed to pay $1 million in fines for knowingly selling products it knew severely degraded over time, said the U.S. Department of Justice on Nov. 7. The company responsible, Point Blank Solutions Inc., and its subsequent corporations, Point Blank Body Armor Inc. and Protective Apparel Corporation of America Inc., agreed to pay the million dollar penalty for violating the False Claims Act, by knowingly making and selling defective Zylon vests, said the DoJ.
Government Security News

Collective Bargaining

Ohio voters reject public-union limits
Voters on Tuesday defeated by a wide margin a law that would have restricted the powers of unions representing teachers, police officers and other public-sector workers. The law would have stripped the state's 350,000 public employees of most of their collective-bargaining rights and forced workers to pay at least 15% of their health-care costs. With 88% of precincts reporting, about 61% of voters in a referendum voted against the Republican-backed law, known as Senate Bill 5, while 39% supported it.
Wall Street Journal

City Budget

2 key L.A. officials warn against ending business tax
As pressure to end Los Angeles' business tax increases, top city officials warned Tuesday that City Hall cannot afford to lose the revenue when it faces a potential budget deficit of up to $250 million. Business leaders have called for a phaseout of the city's tax on gross receipts, arguing the move would spur companies to expand and encourage others to move to L.A., eventually increasing revenue from other types of taxes. But in a nine-page analysis, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller urged elected officials to take a cautious approach.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

Brown's pension overhaul plan draws praise, doubt from analyst
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to alter public pension benefits is courageous but legally dicey, and key pieces of it have not been fully developed, according to a new report from California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. The report praised the governor for offering "a bold starting point for legislative deliberations" on pensions. And it lauded Brown's call to combine a 401(k)-style savings plan with the existing guaranteed-benefit system and raise the retirement age for most future public employees from 55 to 67.
Los Angeles Times

Occupy Movement

Occupy movement inspires unions to embrace bold tactics
Organized labor's early flirtation with Occupy Wall Street is starting to get serious. Labor unions, marveling at how the protesters have fired up the public on traditional labor issues like income inequality, are also starting to embrace some of the bold tactics and social media skills of the Occupy movement. Organized labor's public relations staff is also using Twitter, Tumblr and other social media much more aggressively after seeing how the Occupy protesters have used those services to mobilize support by immediately transmitting photos and videos of marches, tear-gassing and arrests.
New York Times