Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for El Sereno and six other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in seven 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. El Sereno was the most unusual, recording seven reports compared with a weekly average of 1.8 over the last three months. West Hills topped the list of two neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. council, LAPD spar over impounding cars of unlicensed illegal immigrants
A tug-of-war has developed over whether Los Angeles police should impound the cars of unlicensed drivers or let the mostly illegal immigrants arrange to have the vehicles driven home. Police Chief Charlie Beck said this week he will soon stop the 30-day seizures, which he calls a police procedure not under the jurisdiction of the police commission or City Council. Some council members, however, dub the decision a shift in public policy that should be reviewed by elected leaders. They have moved to block Beck's planned change in impound procedures.
Torrance Daily Breeze

LAPD looks for gunman in East Hollywood killing
A 25-year-old man waiting with his girlfriend at bus stop in East Hollywood was killed Thursday by a gunman in a suspected gang-related attack, police said. Cesar Gonzalez, who lived in Los Angeles, and his girlfriend were at the stop near Santa Monica Boulevard and Edgemont when they were approached by two men about 1:15 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department said. One man pushed the woman to the ground, police said, and the other drew a small handgun and opened fire.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD releases video of robber beating woman in Pico-Union
Los Angeles police Thursday released a video showing a robber beating a 19-year-old woman in Pico-Union, hoping that it would help develop leads for detectives. The attack occurred about 10 p.m. Sunday as the woman entered her apartment lobby near Westmoreland Avenue and 11th Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The robber tried to grab the woman's cellphone, but she resisted. He then began punching her in the face and stomach. The robber also tried unsuccessfully to grab her purse and fled with the phone.
Los Angeles Times

A knock, three gunshots and a mysterious slaying in Winnetka
The killing of a popular 17-year-old high school student began with a knock at his west San Fernando Valley front door. A girl with red hair had come calling. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. talked to the girl briefly in the doorway Wednesday evening, out of earshot of his mother and his older sister, who said she had never seen the girl before. Turning back into the house for a moment, he told them he was going outside. Francisco seemed afraid, his sister, Jessica Rodriguez, 23, said Thursday morning, explaining the sequence of events with her hand covering her face, crying.
Los Angeles Times

Clark Gable's grandson gets 10 days for laser incident
The grandson of the late actor Clark Gable was sentenced Thursday to 10 days in jail and three years of probation for shining a laser at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter last summer. On July 28, 2011, Clark James Gable pointed a green laser at a police chopper hovering hundreds of feet above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Authorities traced the light to a vehicle the then-22-year-old was riding in. The driver of that vehicle was not charged. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Horwitz gave Gable, of Canoga Park, credit for one day already served.
NBC4

Online rumors of South Bay serial killer are unfounded, LAPD says
Word spread quickly on Facebook, as it usually does, when rumors of a serial killer supposedly pursuing women in Wilmington and San Pedro began popping up on the social media site. On the Facebook page Life in Wilmington -- on which residents discuss events in the community, look for apartments or report deaths of longtime neighbors -- members wrote frantic posts after the Jan. 2 death of Cristin Alvarez, a 28-year-old woman whose throat was slashed.
Los Angeles Times

Municipal Budgets

L.A.'s 311 calling system becoming a victim of its own success
For years, 311 has been advertised as the way for Los Angeles residents to request service and file complaints with one call to City Hall. Now, it's a victim of its own success - and budget cuts. Four years ago, the system had 50 operators for 1.4 million calls. This year, 311 has half as many operators to answer an estimated 1.2 million calls. The result is a system increasingly overwhelmed with calls and that crashes when operators are unavailable to answer.
Torrance Daily Breeze

City controller says L.A. lost $23.1M on bus stop ads
Los Angeles missed out on $23.1 million that it should have earned from the city's bus stop furniture contract, according to a just released audit. Controller Wendy Greuel in her analysis of the 2002 contract with CBS Decaux said the city was slow to permit street furniture, which reduced the amount of advertising revenue the city could earn.
Los Angeles Daily News

Oakland to give layoff notices to hundreds of workers
In a drastic move to prepare for the loss of millions of dollars in state redevelopment funds this year, Oakland will hand layoff notices to 1,500 city employees next week, and 200 will eventually be dismissed, city leaders said Thursday. The unusual move is necessary because, unlike some cities, Oakland uses redevelopment funds to help pay for the salaries of more than 200 workers in nearly a dozen city departments, including police, fire, City Council members, public works and the mayor's office.
San Francisco Chronicle