Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Chatsworth and five other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in six L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Four neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Chatsworth was the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 1.1 over the last three months. Pacoima topped the list of two neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Wake up to risks of new impound policy
There's no bright side to the death of the 60-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a motorist in Panorama City last weekend. But there is some utility, and that is to - hopefully - give city officials pause in endorsing a proposed police policy to give unlicensed drivers a break. The Police Commission last week voted in favor of a policy proposed by Chief Charlie Beck to stop automatic 30-day impounds of cars driven by unlicensed drivers.
Los Angeles Daily News Editorial

Local activist slams LAPD Chief Charlie Beck
Ron Kaye, a local community activist and former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, posted an unforgiving look at Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck today. "The Trouble with Charlie: Murders Are Up, Cop Attacks Are Up, the Politicians Own Him" details the highlights provided by the story's headline, and Kaye says murder is Beck's problem. The Chief of Police's only goal, according to Kaye, "is to make sure he keeps the decade-long local and national trend of falling violent crime on downward line."
LAist

Striking before they kill
The five-officer LAPD unit monitors those with at least two DUI convictions, staking out their homes and following them from court to make sure they aren't driving. Some have come to court drunk; others have left, gone straight to a liquor store to pick up some booze, and then driven off after downing the alcohol. Repeat DUI offenders are believed to be the cause of 8percent of all fatal alcohol-related crashes in California, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Los Angeles Daily News

Cop shoots, injures man who fired on officers in South L.A., LAPD says
Los Angeles police shot and wounded a man in South Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Police said two patrol officers from the 77th Street Division were in the area of 84th Place and Towne Avenue shortly before 2:30 p.m. when the man fired shots at them, LAPD spokesman Gregory Baek said. One of the officers returned fire, hitting the suspect, a man in his 20s, in the chest. His condition was not known. No details were available about what prompted the man to fire at the officers. Police say another man is being sought.
Los Angeles Times

Reward offered for hit-and-run driver
A $50,000 reward was announced today for information helping police find a hit-and-run motorist whose vehicle struck and injured a woman so badly that her legs had to be amputated. Irma Rodriguez, 59, was injured about 8:40 a.m. Aug. 11 on Long Beach Avenue north of 40th Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Rodriguez was standing behind her vehicle, which was stopped at the location, when she was struck by a northbound vehicle, police said. The driver of the vehicle did not stop. A description of the vehicle was not immediately released.
Fox11

Man hurt during Sherman Oaks home invasion
A man suffered minor injuries when he was pistol-whipped during a home invasion in Sherman Oaks. The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. Monday in the 4900 block of Matilija Avenue. Police said two men wearing black ski masks entered the home. When they were confronted by the homeowner, a man in his 60s, they tied him up and hit him. The men made off with an undisclosed amount of money and jewelry. Police are investigating if the house was targeted or if it was a random attack. Authorities said someone had been knocking on doors in the neighborhood earlier in the day.
ABC7

Election 2012

Council District 15: Voting now underway
Jan. 17 is election day in the runoff to fill the vacancy in Los Angeles' 15th Council District. But voters in Watts, Harbor Gateway, Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro may, theoretically, be marking and mailing in their ballots right now. The Los Angeles City Clerk's Office began mailing official sample ballots to district voters Friday. The vote-by-mail applications included in those materials can be completed and submitted to the clerk's Election Division -- 555 Ramirez Street, Space 300, Los Angeles 90012 -- through the end of the business day Jan. 10.
Los Angeles Times

More ballot wars: The cost of crime and punishment
The cost of prisons, prisoners and public safety could be a major issue on November's ballot. If certain initiatives qualify for the ballot, voters will have to decide between their desire for taxpayer savings within the criminal justice system and California's traditional tough-on-crime stand. Initiatives are moving forward to change the Three Strikes law by giving courts more discretion on sentencing a third conviction. A second initiative will ask voters to do away with the death penalty.
Fox and Hounds Daily