Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Sherman Oaks, Del Rey and eight other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 10 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Sherman Oaks was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 1.6 over the last three months. Del Rey topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

The perception of a double standard
It's disheartening to the rank-and-file when managers are promoted or given coveted assignments after being found culpable by a jury. Adding to the morale problem is the perception of a double standard in which the rank-and-file receive unequal treatment in similar cases. Now L.A. City Councilmember Dennis Zine, head of the Council's Audits and Governmental Efficient Committee, is determined to understand why promotions or preferential treatment are given after lawsuit judgments or settlements. He has called on the City's risk management task force to ensure LAPD is holding managers accountable for misconduct.
LAPPL Blog

L.A. County jails may be out of room next month
Los Angeles County's jails could run out of space as early as next month because of an influx of state prisoners, prompting officials to consider releasing potentially thousands of inmates awaiting trial. The state's new prison law, which establishes a practice known as realignment, is expected to send as many as 8,000 offenders who would normally go to state prisons into the L.A. County Jail system in the next year. Currently, defendants awaiting trial account for 70% of the jail population, but Sheriff Lee Baca said that might need to drop to 50%.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. police shoot man in downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles police shot a man who reportedly had a knife on Sunday afternoon, leaving him in critical condition. Police officers assigned to the Occupy L.A. tent city responded to a call of "a man with a knife" about 4:40 p.m. Sunday near 7th and Los Angeles streets in the nearby Fashion District, said Officer Karen Rayner, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles Police Department. "When the officers arrived, there was an officer-involved shooting," Rayner said. The man was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition.
Los Angeles Times

One man killed in Winnetka, two wounded in Westlake
Los Angeles police Thursday night were investigating two separate shootings that left one person dead in Winnetka and two others wounded in Westlake. The first attack took place shortly before 5 p.m. at West 5th Street and South Burlington Avenue in Westlake and appeared to gang-related, the Los Angeles Police Department said. A man reported that he and a passenger were shot as they drove in a vehicle. The assailant and at least one other person fled, the LAPD said. Both victims were shot in the back.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD searching for Elysian Park sexual predator
Detectives are still searching for a man who sexually assaulted a woman about 25 yards from her car Oct. 31 while she was hiking in Elysian Park. The victim was nearing the end of a hiking trail close to Academy Drive and Stadium Way at about 1 p.m. when she was grabbed from behind, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The suspect then placed one hand over the woman's mouth and sexually assaulted her with the other hand, police said. The victim told detectives she eventually freed herself from her attacker, at which time he fled on foot into the park.
NBC4

LA processes backlog of untested rape kits
Los Angeles city officials say they've made progress in testing and processing thousands of untested rape kits, but concerns have arisen over establishing an accurate tracking system. In a letter to city leaders Thursday, City Controller Wendy Greuel says her department has taken a backlog of more than 7,000 untested cases dating from before Dec. 2008 and reduced it to 772 cases. The 6,132 rape kits entered into police custody since 2008 have reportedly been fully examined.
Southern California Public Radio

LAPD rejects South Korean Jindos as police dogs
In a canine experiment in better policing, the LAPD recently spent months training a pair of South Korean-bred Jindo puppies as possible new street enforcement partners. But the Jindos are in the doghouse as a replacement for more traditional European bloodlines, such as German shepherds or Belgian Malinois. The loyal but excitable Jindos, officials said, just didn't take to the exacting work of crowd control, weapons detection and drug sniffing.
Los Angeles Times

State Budget

Calif. revenue falling short - automatic cuts loom
State Controller John Chiang delivered bad news Thursday when he reported that the state is collecting much less in taxes than expected so far this year, and he warned that mid-year trigger cuts to social services and higher education appear more likely to happen. For the first four months of the fiscal year, California has collected $1.5 billion less in revenue than anticipated, Chiang said. Tax revenue for the month of October alone was short nearly $811 million.
San Francisco Chronicle

City Election 2013

Greg Smith raising money for 2013 city attorney's race
A West Los Angeles lawyer with a track record of winning financial judgments for Los Angeles police officers and firefighters said Thursday that he is running for city attorney in 2013. Greg Smith, 58, filed paperwork earlier this week to begin raising money for a citywide campaign, according to documents provided to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), who ran unsuccessfully for city attorney in 2001, filed similar documents in September.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

Public pensions are protected in Constitution
In Philadelphia, 224 years ago, some men tucked these words into the nation's new Constitution: "No state shall ... pass any ... law impairing the obligation of contracts..." Those words, squeezed into a very long sentence in Article 1, Section 10, listing powers denied the states, became known as the "contracts clause." And it is playing havoc with modern-day public pension reformers, including Gov. Jerry Brown.
Los Angeles Times