Law Enforcement

LAPD on tactical alert after 15-20 suspected arson fires
The LAPD declared a tactical alert early Friday morning, after 15-20 suspected arson fires in West Hollywood and Hollywood, including one at the former residence of Jim Morrison. The tactical alert was declared at 4:20 a.m., and means that the department can keep officers on the job beyond the scheduled end of their shifts. The West Hollywood Sheriff's Dept. said it received three separate calls shortly after midnight about vehicle fires. The calls came in within 11 minutes of each other, authorities said.
KLTA

Crime alerts for Westwood, Mt. Washington, 11 other neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 11 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Six neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Westwood was the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 0.7 over the last three months. Mount Washington topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek witnesses to fatal traffic collision
LAPD Valley Traffic Division detectives are looking for anyone who may have witnessed a dramatic traffic accident in which a driver was instantly killed. On Dec. 23rd, at around 11:45 a.m., a 71-year-old West Hills resident was driving his vehicle south on Valley Circle Boulevard just south of Caris Street when he ran off the road and hit a parked vehicle and tree. He sustained a severe blunt-force impact to his body and was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.
San Fernando Sun

Police seek information in two gang-related shootings
Police are looking for information that can help identify two suspects involved in a pair of gang-related shootings this week. The first incident took place at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday in South L.A. on 53rd Street just west of Normandie Avenue, according to a police report. The victim is in critical condition. The second shooting occurred at 12:40 p.m. in the 6000 block of South Vermont Avenue, just 1.5 miles away from the first incident. A 14-year-old boy was also shot at close range in front of Bottoms Up Liquor. The boy is in critical condition.
Los Angeles Times

Rand study on medical pot among year's worst, Scientific American says
Remember that Rand Corporation study from earlier this year that claimed crime actually increased in L.A. neighborhoods where cops closed medical marijuana dispensaries? The one that forgot to include crime statistics compiled by the Los Angeles Police Department? The one that Rand had to retract because it was pretty much completely worthless? Well, if you do, it will come as no surprise that the Santa Monica-based think tank's somewhat, uh, flawed report is number five on Scientific American's list of 2011's biggest retractions.
OC Weekly

Gunfire alert systems aid safety, Calif. cops say
ShotSpotter has become a basic component of police work in six Bay Area cities that have bought it in recent years. While offering mostly anecdotal evidence, and acknowledging some problems, commanders in the cities say it's been a success and is likely to be a permanent feature of their jobs. Its proponents say the system enables officers to respond faster, often reaching the spot where shots were fired before the first 911 caller dials in.
San Francisco Chronicle

Capital Punishment

Annual total of death sentences in California falls to 10
The number of death sentences issued in California dropped this year to 10, one of the lowest levels since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1978. The decline, from 29 in each of the last two years, may signal that the decades-long appeals process for capital convictions and a 6-year-old moratorium on executions have encouraged prosecutors to seek life sentences without the possibility of parole in more murder cases.
Los Angeles Times

Immigration

U.S. sets up hotline for detained immigrants
U.S. immigration authorities are setting up a telephone hotline to ensure that detainees held by local police forces partnering in a controversial federal immigration enforcement program are adequately informed of their rights. The initiative announced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Thursday provides a toll-free number to field queries from detainees held by state or local law enforcement agencies "if they believe they may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime."
Reuters

City Government

Council District 15: Buscaino and the council cop bloc
If he's elected to the Los Angeles City Council on Jan. 17, Joe Buscaino would expand the current cop bloc to four members. On a council of 15, that's a surprising number of reserve and retired LAPD officers, especially in a liberal city with a long love/hate relationship with its police. But not all council cops are the same politically, and Buscaino might be even more pro-police than the rest. His campaign spent a lot on mailers in the Nov. 8 primary, but a big Buscaino mail campaign was conducted by the police officers union -- the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Los Angeles Times

State & Municipal Government

California high court puts redevelopment agencies out of business
The California Supreme Court threw hundreds of redevelopment agencies out of business in a ruling that will benefit state budget coffers but hobble local economic development and housing programs. The court ruled unanimously in favor of a state law passed last summer that abolished redevelopment agencies and voted 6 to 1 to strike down a companion measure that would have allowed the agencies to continue if they shared their revenues.
Los Angeles Times