Law Enforcement

Crime in L.A. falls for ninth straight year
Crime in Los Angeles fell for the ninth consecutive year in 2011, marking a drop to historic levels on par with those last seen in 1952, officials said Thursday. Violent crime citywide was down 7.3 percent and the number of rapes reported was down almost 20 percent - although the 298 reported murders was one more than in 2010, police said. Gang crime was also down significantly, marking a 15.2 drop from 2010, but gang-related murders was slightly up at 170 in 2011 from 161 in 2010.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says this week's crime is no omen of trouble ahead
Sure, crime was down in 2011, yet again. But 2012 has really gotten off to a bad start. In the span of one week, Los Angeles saw dozens of vehicles torched in a one-man arson spree; seven officer- or deputy-involved shootings; a freeway shutdown for the manhunt of a parolee who shot a parole agent; and at least eight killings. Still, LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck thinks that one bad week doesn't represent an omen of the year ahead.
Los Angeles Daily News

Wounded parole agent, suspect hospitalized
A parole officer who was shot in the face during a Los Angeles manhunt remains hospitalized Thursday in serious but stable condition, and so does the man suspected of shooting him. Authorities say the agent was with a task force looking for a 45-year-old parole violator and was shot when he entered a trailer. Another agent returned fire but the attacker fled. A manhunt ensued and the nearby Interstate 210 freeway was shut down for nearly five hours. Two schools were locked down.
Associated Press

L.A. stand-up comic killed by suspected drunk driver
Angelo Bowers, a stand-up comedian and actor who performed in Los Angeles comedy clubs, was killed in a late-night Hollywood traffic collision that police say was caused by a drunk driver. The driver caused two collisions just minutes apart, involving different vehicles on the streets of Hollywood. The second collision killed Bowers and seriously injured a friend in the car with him, fellow comedian Josh Adam Meyers, KTLA-TV reported.
Los Angeles Times

Woman found slain in Wilmington ID'd
A woman found slain in bushes on a Wilmington street was identified today as Cristian Zugey Alvarez, 28. Coroner's officials said Alvarez was scheduled for an autopsy today. Photographs included at a crime scene memorial showed her with a little boy. The Wilmington woman was discovered at 5:30 p.m. Monday by someone walking a dog at L Street near railroad tracks at McFarland Avenue, police said.
Torrance Daily Breeze

LAPD seeks suspects in Venice Boardwalk gang shooting
Los Angeles police Thursday were looking for four suspects involved in a gang shooting at the popular Venice Boardwalk that left two people injured. The shooting broke out Wednesday about 6:30 p.m. near Ocean Front Walk and Market Street, not far from a Los Angeles Police Department substation. The four attackers were members of a Crips set, who confronted two 18th Street gang members, the LAPD said. Shots rang out, leaving the two males lying wounded on the boardwalk as onlookers watched or called 911.
Los Angeles Times

Utah officer dies following shootout
Gunfire erupted as anti-drug police served a search warrant in an Ogden neighborhood, fatally wounding one officer and injuring five other police and a suspect, authorities said. The shots rang out before 9 p.m. Wednesday as police converged at a residence on Jackson Avenue, police spokesman Lt. Tony Fox said. The six officers were hospitalized along with a suspect, Fox told The Associated Press.
Associated Press

FBI changes definition of rape to include men as victims
The FBI is changing its long-standing definition of rape for the first time to include sexual assaults on males following persistent calls from victims advocates who claim that the offense, as currently defined in the agency's annual crime report, has been undercounted for decades. The new provision will define rape as any kind of penetration of another person, regardless of gender, without the victim's consent.
USA Today

Immigration

Obama rule would let undocumented stay in U.S. during application
The Obama administration will announce Friday a proposed new regulation that would allow certain undocumented immigrants to remain in America while applying for legal status -- a step aimed at keeping families intact and one that may also shore up the president's support with Latino voters. As it stands, people living in the U.S. illegally who leave the country to apply for a green card face years of separation from family members.
Los Angeles Times

State Budget

Brown: Schools, cops could take $5.4 billion cut without new taxes
Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday he will need to cut $5.4 billion from schools, universities and public safety if voters don't approve a tax increase in November. The announcement came as Brown released the first draft of his 2012-13 budget proposal. Brown had originally intended to release the plan next week, but his administration accidentally posted it online Thursday morning.
Orange County Register