Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Highland Park, and 7 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in nine L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Six neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Highland Park was the most unusual, recording 11 reports compared with a weekly average of 3.0 over the last three months. Sunland topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Teen arrested in Urban Noodle restroom stabbing
A man was chased several blocks from a skid row park into a downtown Asian fusion restaurant where he was cornered in a bathroom stall and stabbed repeatedly in the throat and chest, Los Angeles police said Tuesday. Officers arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder in the attack reported around noon Monday at the Urban Noodle in the 110 block of W. 4th Street after the unidentified victim had fled into the restaurant after being chased for several blocks by as many as five people, said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek more victims of alleged con man mechanic
Detectives are looking for victims of a man who pretended to be an automobile mechanic and scammed elderly people by telling them something was wrong with their cars. Between June 2011 and his arrest on March 2, Larry Marco, 41, of Woodland Hills allegedly approached older men and women in area parking lots. One scam apparently took place outside Fallbrook Center in West Hills.
Los Angeles Daily News

Family of gang member who died in LAPD custody gets $3.2 million
The family of a 31-year-old gang member who died in Los Angeles police custody in 2007 has been awarded $3.2 million in a wrongful death suit, court officials said Tuesday. The civil jury's award for damages, reached Monday, was divided among Mauricio Cornejo's estate and his three surviving minor children, one of whom received $1.5 million and the other two received $400,000 each.
Los Angeles Times

FBI still struggling with Supreme Court's GPS ruling
Before the Supreme Court ruling in late January, the FBI had about 3,000 GPS tracking devices in the field. Just in case, government lawyers scrambled to get search warrants for weeks before the decision, working to convince judges they had probable cause to believe crimes were taking place. But after the ruling, FBI officials tell NPR, agents still had to turn off 250 devices that they couldn't turn back on.
NPR

3 online date sites agree to screen for predators
Three leading online dating sites have agreed to screen for sex offenders and take other measures to protect their members after a Southern California woman was assaulted on a date. California's attorney general on Tuesday announced the agreement with Match.com, eHarmony and Spark Networks. She says the companies signed a joint statement of principles that include checking subscribers against national sex offender registries, providing a rapid way to report abuses and providing members with safety tips.
Associated Press

Jails & Prisons

Los Angeles County sheriff may shut part of Men's Central Jail
Facing a federal investigation into allegations of brutality in his jails, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is considering a bold proposal to shutter a portion of the department's most troubled lockup that has been plagued by inmate killings, excessive force by guards and poor supervision. The plan would shift about 1,800 inmates, including many of the county's most violent criminals, from the old section of Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, a sheriff's jail commander said.
Los Angeles Times

Prisoners call upon United Nations to investigate solitary confinement
Calling solitary confinement "torture," California prisoners and advocates are asking the United Nations to investigate the segregated housing of gang members at prisons throughout the state. They are petitioning the U.N. to conduct an inquiry into the conditions of the state's "segregated housing units," which they say violate international human rights. They also want the Red Cross to be allowed in to visit the lockups.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. fire chief offers new explanation of response times
Los Angeles Fire Chief Brian Cummings has offered a new explanation of how the department has calculated and presented its emergency response times to city officials. Speaking to the Fire Commission on Tuesday, Cummings said the department used computerized projections of response times, instead of actual performance data, in reports about budget cuts given to the Fire Commission and to members of the City Council last year.
Los Angeles Times

LAFD not giving public information about fires, medical calls, traffic accidents, emergencies
Citing a federal medical privacy law, the Los Angeles Fire Department announced Tuesday it would no longer provide the public with basic information about fires, medical calls, traffic accidents or other emergencies it responds to.
Los Angeles Daily News

About 18,000 L.A. County workers won't get cost-of-living raises
About 18,000 Los Angeles County firefighters, lifeguards, probation officers, sheriff's deputies and district attorney investigators will not get cost-of-living raises this year, L.A. County officials said Tuesday. The agreement approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors covered eight out of 74 bargaining units with the county. It was hailed by supervisors and the county's chief executive officer as an example of the county's fiscal restraint, which has allowed it to avoid layoffs or furloughs since the recession began in 2007.
Los Angeles Times