Law Enforcement

Shootings leave two dead in Wilmington
At least two people were shot to death in Wilmington shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles police said. The incident occurred in the 500 block of Bay View Avenue. Police said the dead, a man and a woman, appeared to be in their teens. Further details were not immediately available. The shootings were the latest violence to hit the community that abuts the Los Angeles Harbor over the last several months. Recent shootings have claimed at least four lives.
Los Angeles Times

Councilmembers question the legality of LAPD's new impound policy
The LAPD's plan to stop impounding vehicles of some unlicensed drivers drew more criticism on Friday as a key City Council member questioned its logic and whether it violated state law. Councilman Mitch Englander, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the proposal by Chief Charlie Beck made no sense to him and he asked for a report on whether it meets state law. "Studies show the unlicensed driver will be back behind the wheel," said Englander, who is a reserve police officer.
Los Angeles Daily News

A slippery slope lies ahead on licenses
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck apparently drew the short straw and was the first over the parapets, telling the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times he now believes illegal immigrants should have legal California driver's licenses. Within hours L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca chimed in with a "Me, too!" followed quickly by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, and the floodgates are now officially open for the rest of California's political, business, entertainment and religious establishment to fall in line.
Doug McIntyre/Los Angeles Daily News

Twisting LAPD impound policy to favor illegals
It has been at once amusing and saddening to witness the debate here in Los Angeles over how police officers should respond when, having made a traffic stop, they find the driver to be unlicensed. At issue is the decision an officer must make as to whether or not to impound the car as authorized by California state law and, if the car is impounded, for how long. It's been amusing to see so many people twist themselves into legal and intellectual contortions in arguing that cars driven by illegal immigrants should not be impounded, and saddening to know that no matter how tenuous their grip may be on the legal and intellectual arguments, these people will prevail regardless.
Jack Dunphy/PJ Media

Person shot to death near LAPD station
A person was shot to death Sunday afternoon near a Los Angeles police station. The fatal shooting was reported at 2:40 p.m. in the 200 block of West 78th Street, Officer Cleon Joseph of the Los Angeles Police Department said. Few details about the murder were made available. "All we know right now is there was a shooting and they are working a homicide," Joseph said. It was unknown whether the victim was taken to a hospital or pronounced dead at the scene.
CBS2

LAPD searches for gunman who shot teens near L.A. High School
Police were looking for at least one suspect after two teenage boys -- including a student at Los Angeles High School -- were shot and wounded outside the campus Friday afternoon. One was shot in the leg and the other in the back. Both were transported to a local hospital. KTLA-TV Channel 5 News reported that one was a 17-year-old high school student. Los Angeles Police Department officers were swarming the area looking for the gunman.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD captain on Skid Row progress: 'We're regressing'
Since the city banned the confiscating and destroying of property from Skid Row's homeless last year, crime rates in the area have shot up, said Central Division Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Horace Frank. "We're regressing," Frank said, in regards to many health and safety issues in the Downtown area. "The environment allows it." He said that many of the homeless people's "possessions" would be classified as trash under any other circumstances; items such as plastic bags and food wrappers.
Blogdowntown

Suspect pointed gun at people before officers shot him, police say
Los Angeles police said officers fatally shot an armed carjacking suspect in Koreatown at the end of a televised slow-speed pursuit Thursday because he pointed his handgun at customers at a gas station, endangering public safety. Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the gunman's actions required officers to respond with deadly force. "When he pulled out his revolver and pointed it at people inside the store, the officers took action, fired their rounds and the suspect expired at the scene," Smith said Friday.
Los Angeles Times

FBI turns off thousands of GPS devices after Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning the warrantless use of GPS tracking devices has caused a "sea change" inside the U.S. Justice Department, according to FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann. Mr. Weissmann, speaking at a University of San Francisco conference called "Big Brother in the 21st Century" on Friday, said that the court ruling prompted the FBI to turn off about 3,000 GPS tracking devices that were in use.
Wall Street Journal

Prison & Parole

Young killers serving life without parole may get chance at freedom
The Supreme Court, in a case involving two 14-year-olds, will hear oral arguments March 20, in two cases involving 14-year-olds, on whether it is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment to put young juvenile murderers in prison without hope of release. The justices have been moving toward greater protection for minors. They abolished the death penalty for juveniles in 2005, and in 2010 ruled out life sentences without parole for them except in cases of homicide.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

California assemblyman tries again to OK driver's licenses for illegal immigrants
After winning passage of a law allowing some undocumented immigrants to apply for college aid, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo's new goal is driver's licenses. The Los Angeles Democrat will carry legislation this year that would allow undocumented immigrants to be licensed, tested and insured. Similar Cedillo measures have passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature in years past but were vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sacramento Bee