Occupy L.A.

To clear Occupy camp, LAPD uses new tactics
When the end came, it came swiftly and with the shock of an overwhelming force. Hundreds of police officers in riot gear swarmed out of Los Angeles City Hall early Wednesday, batons across their chests, surprising and engulfing the Occupy L.A. protesters who had been camped in the surrounding park for two months. "Shame on you!" protesters shouted, as the officers ran to pre-assigned spots, instantly dividing the park into small, easily controlled segments.
Los Angeles Times

Occupy L.A. should not have dragged on, some officials say
Los Angeles' elected officials were largely in sync in their praise of the police department's overnight raid of Occupy L.A., but two councilmen said the encampment should not have been allowed to drag on for so many weeks. "Two months is way too long to occupy a park, way too long," Councilman Dennis Zine said. "It's a public park. It's open to the public. The [weekly] farmers' market had to relocate. The movie industry stopped filming here. There were a lot of issues affected by this." Councilman Bernard C. Parks had a similar view, saying he believes the city will now have a much harder time enforcing its ordinance barring overnight camping in its parks.
Los Angeles Times

Occupy LA camp cleanup takes hazmat suits, masks
Sanitation workers wearing hazmat suits and masks moved into City Hall park Wednesday to clean up tons of trash, debris and human waste after police evicted the 2-month-old Occupy LA tent camp and arrested almost 300 people in a mostly non-violent pre-dawn raid. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the cleanup and repair to the damaged lawn and park facilities would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly more than $1 million. City workers installed concrete barriers around the park around 5 a.m. when the park was finally clear of protesters after a sweep by 1,400 police officers.
Associated Press

Law Enforcement

LAPD investigates three possibly gang-related homicides
Los Angeles police Wednesday were investigating the slayings of three men in two separate shootings. The first shooting took place about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday at Marylee Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills, where officers responded to a call of an assault and found two men shot, said Sgt. Rosario Fierro of the Los Angeles Police Department. One man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene; another man in his 30s was wounded and taken to a hospital. He was uncooperative and refused to provide information to officers, Fierro said.
Los Angeles Times

Background Check on the UC Davis Pepper-Spray Investigator
William J. Bratton, the former police chief whom the University of California hired to investigate the pepper-spraying of Occupy protesters at UC Davis, has a reputation for taking on tough policing challenges - and for courting controversy. Bratton, who has led the Los Angeles and New York City police departments, is the chairman of Kroll Security, which calls itself "the world's leading risk consulting firm."
The Bay Citizen

White House unveils new piracy awareness campaign
Attorney General Eric Holder unveiled a new education campaign Tuesday to raise public awareness about the damaging consequences of intellectual property theft. The campaign -- which targets everything from illegal movie and music downloads to counterfeit pharmaceuticals -- will consist of TV public service announcements as well as print and radio ads. Flanked by other federal law enforcement authorities at the White House, Holder pointed to the urgent need to combat the illegal online trade, estimated to cost the U.S. economy upwards of $200 billion a year.
Reuters

Prison Transfers

Inmate shift quickly filling some California jails
Two months into California's most far-reaching public safety realignment in decades, some counties are seeing a higher-than-expected influx of inmates who could crowd jails to the breaking point much earlier than expected. State corrections officials say it is too soon to panic and expect the numbers to even out after an initial surge. But reality is settling in as local law enforcement agencies struggle to contain criminals with a history of violence, substance abuse and mental illness who previously would have been tucked away in state prisons.
Associated Press

New Laws

Brown signs dozens of bills previously vetoed by Schwarzenegger
Dozens of bills vetoed during the final legislative session of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration have found new life with Jerry Brown in the governor's office, a California Watch analysis has found. The bills range from high-profile initiatives like the California Dream Act, which grants financial aid to illegal immigrants attending public universities, to legislation that regulates tattoo parlors, increases penalties for animal abuse and prohibits the purchase of alcohol at self-service checkouts.
California Watch

Ballot Initiatives

Campaign to repeal California death penalty nets nearly $1.2 million
A group seeking to ask California voters to repeal the death penalty has netted nearly $1.2 million in recent weeks to aid its drive to qualify for the 2012 ballot. The contributions, made to a committee created to fund the proposed ballot measure, were reported this week in campaign finance filings posted on the secretary of state website. Major donors listed in the report include several California branches of the American Civil Liberties Union ($41,770), Google executive Robert Alan Eustace ($125,000), Hyatt Development Corporation CEO Nicholas Pritzker ($500,000), and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ($125,000).
Sacramento Bee

Pensions

State pension systems see potential obstacles in Brown's reform plan
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to overhaul public pensions in California may face legal hurdles and create some new costs, according to officials with the state's two largest public retirement systems. More detail about the governor's 12-point plan is needed to answer a large number of questions, according to analyses by officials with the California Public Employees' Retirement System, known as CalPERS, and California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as CalSTRS.
Los Angeles Times