Law Enforcement

LAPD investigates fatal shootings at nightclub, Thai restaurant
Los Angeles police were continuing to seek clues Sunday in two high-profile shootings over the weekend. Police were seeking suspects in the shooting that killed one person and wounded three others at the Mayan nightclub in downtown L.A. early Saturday morning. The shooting involved members of the 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha gangs and took place shortly before 3 a.m. near the intersection of Hill Street and Olympic Boulevard, according to police.
Los Angeles Times

$50,000 reward offered in Broadway-Manchester shooting death
The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles City Council are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for killing a woman in the Broadway-Manchester area of South Los Angeles. Officials announced last week that they are actively investigating the shooting death of Jewell King.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD's impound dilemma
At first glance, a proposal by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to clarify the way police handle cars they impound from unlicensed drivers doesn't sound controversial. But his proposal touches one of the city's hot-button issues - illegal immigration - and it reopens a larger, historical question: Who's in charge of the city's police?
Jim Newton/Los Angeles Times

A setback for police as Supreme Court reins in GPS tracking
It's no secret that GPS tracking devices have been hot sellers of late to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. Local, state and federal officials have used them in countless investigations, and their use in solving crimes has proven efficient and effective. But alas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last Monday that police need a warrant before they can put a GPS tracking device on an individual's vehicle to covertly track the person.
LAPPL Blog

LAPD detective suspected of swiping drug money booked on suspicion of grand theft
A Los Angeles police detective arrested for allegedly stealing money from a drug bust was facing possible criminal charges today. Detective Ramon Alvarez, who has 25 years with department, was arrested Friday at an undisclosed location and booked on suspicion of grand theft, Los Angeles police Detective Agustin Villanueva said. A fellow detective notified a supervisor that he suspected Alvarez of taking some cash while searching a suspected drug house, according to police.
Los Angeles Daily News LAPPL Statement

Bratton's book offers views on police policy
Former Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton offers his views on police policy in a book titled "Collaborate or Perish!" Last November, there was a national outcry over the pepper-spraying of peaceful protesters at UC Davis. The UC president decided to have an independent review of the incident, and he turned to Bratton, who is now the chairman of Kroll private security firm Bratton said the probe is not done, and its findings will be up to university officials to release. In "Collaborate or Perish!," Bratton discusses his experiences turning crisis into success.
ABC7

New federal crime unit to police home mortgage fraud
The U.S. government dispatched 55 prosecutors, FBI agents and analysts Friday to a new financial crimes enforcement unit focusing on home mortgage abuses that fueled the 2008 economic collapse. The unit, first referenced earlier this week by President Obama in the State of the Union, is expected to plunge deeper into the causes of "massive market failures" that continue to harm homeowners, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said.
USA Today

Legislation

Showdown over California courts coming to a head
With a crucial vote looming Monday, a conflict that has shaken California's judiciary reaches a critical stage when the Assembly considers legislation that would strip control of most of the court system's purse strings from a central bureaucracy and turn it over to the Legislature and local trial judges. The yearlong battle over control of the court system's $3 billion budget reached a boiling point this week as Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye began a campaign to kill the legislation sponsored by Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, the Assembly's ranking Democrat.
Oakland Tribune

Prisons

End of prison oversight not certain
The court-appointed receiver overseeing California's prison health care system said Friday the state must keep its promise to spend more than $2 billion for new medical facilities before the federal courts can end an oversight role that has lasted six years. California committed to spending $750 million to upgrade existing medical facilities, building a new $906 million medical center and converting juvenile lockups at a cost of $817 million. So far, only the new medical center in Stockton is being built.
Associated Press

Hundreds of prison employees get layoff notices
California prison officials have sent layoff notices to 545 employees, including 140 guards, as the inmate population declines to comply with a federal court order. Corrections officials said Friday there are 14,000 fewer inmates than four months ago, when a new law began sending those convicted of lower-level offenses to county jails instead of state prisons. Federal judges, in an order backed by the U.S. Supreme Court, gave the state two years to reduce its prison population by 33,000 inmates to improve medical care.
Associated Press

City Government

Herb Wesson engineers another shake-up at L.A. City Hall
Newly installed Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson engineered another shake-up at City Hall on Friday, stripping rival lawmakers Bernard C. Parks and Jan Perry of key committee chairmanships that had major influence over the city budget crisis and utility rates. The move is expected to widen the bitter divide between Wesson and the council's only other African American members, who are at odds with the council president over proposed new political district boundaries.
Los Angeles Times