LAPD asks community to help break 'cycle of violence' at packed Wilmington meeting
Police implored a standing-room-only crowd in Wilmington Thursday to get more involved in their neighborhoods and to pass on anything that might help them break the cycle of violence that has gripped the port community in the past two months. The good news: Arrests have been made in two of the seven killings, according to Los Angeles Police Capt. William Hayes, commander of the LAPD's Harbor Division. A suspect has been arrested in a Jan. 24 homicide and in the Jan. 30 shooting deaths of two men at Pacific Coast Highway and Watson Road, he said.
Torrance Daily Breeze

LAPD arrests 5 known Wilmington gang members
Los Angeles police arrested five known Wilmington gang members early Wednesday morning in a targeted effort related to recent violence in the community. However, there is no indication that any of the five taken into custody are directly connected to the crimes, said Sgt. Michele Santillan of the LAPD Harbor Division's gang detective unit. "Obviously there's been a lot of gang activity in Wilmington over the past several months so yesterday warrants were served at several locations targeting gang members," Santillan said.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Double-murder suspect fatally shot by LAPD SWAT team in La Mirada
A Los Angeles police SWAT team shot and killed a man Thursday wanted in connection with a double-slaying in Los Angeles last year, authorities said. An LAPD SWAT team joined with an FBI fugitive task force and went looking for the man, who was identified in a suspect in a Nov. 2011 double-slaying in the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles, the Commander said.
Whittier Daily News

Fugitive wanted for child rape may be in L.A., the FBI says
The FBI was alerting the public Thursday about a fugitive wanted on five counts of child rape who may be in Los Angeles. The bureau is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of John Joseph Hartin, a Dorchester, Mass., resident who has been on the run for 18 years. He has family and friends in Los Angeles, the FBI said.
Los Angeles Times

Missing schizophrenic man is found in downtown L.A.
A schizophrenic Burbank man reported missing more than a week ago was located in Los Angeles on Wednesday, police said. Vage Kameryan, 37, is completely dependent on his family's care and was located in downtown L.A. Wednesday afternoon after some one contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, Burbank police said. LAPD officers transported him to a hospital for observation before reuniting him with his family.
Burbank Leader

California colleges take back seat to California prisons
San Francisco State University President Robert Corrigan, who is retiring this year, and Provost Sue Rosser noted today in Washington that California is spending nearly as much money on prisons ($8.7 billion, or 9.45 percent of its budget), as it does on all of higher education ($9.3 billion, or 10.1 percent of its budget). Corrigan said the numbers are actually more stark. Total operational budgets for all 23 campuses of the state universities and for all nine UC campuses is $4.6 billion, less than half what the state spends on prisons.
San Francisco Chronicle

State lawmakers want answers on prison spending
When California's prison system ran into the red last year, lawmakers forked over an additional $380 million. But now lawmakers say they can't get answers on where the money went, and prison officials have missed two deadlines to explain the spending. "The bureaucrats running our prisons habitually break their budgets and refuse to open their books to show us why," Assembly Budget Chairman Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) said in a statement.
Los Angeles Times

End death penalty measure likely to be on November ballot
California's voters in November will have their first opportunity in more than three decades to consider whether to scrap the death penalty and clear the largest death row in the nation's history. Reviving one of the state's most contentious political issues, backers of a proposed ballot initiative to abolish the death penalty announced Thursday that they had more than enough signatures to put the explosive question on the November ballot.
San Jose Mercury News

Proposed L.A. council district changes draw new warning
Four members of Los Angeles city's redistricting commission are warning that new proposed boundaries for City Council districts would deprive Asian Americans of "any reasonable possibility" of winning a council seat. On Wednesday, the commission voted 12 to 5 to forward the new boundaries for the 15 council districts to the City Council.
Los Angeles Times