Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for University Park 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. Four neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. University Park was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 1.5 over the last three months. Pacoima topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

May Day protests test LAPD; total of 13 arrests made
May Day rallies brought immigrant rights, labor and Occupy protesters onto Los Angeles streets Tuesday, snarling traffic and drawing a police force that at times outnumbered the demonstrators. Only several hundred people heeded the call from organizers to gather for the annual May Day immigrant and labor-rights march, echoing a similarly poor turnout last year. The numbers were a far cry from previous years when tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of marchers filled the streets to make Los Angeles the nation's focal point in the debate over immigration.
KTLA/Los Angeles Times

May Day protest: LAPD officer hit in head with skateboard
A largely peaceful May Day protest in downtown Los Angeles turned tense on Tuesday evening as police clashed with protesters. The incident occurred near 4th and Hill streets when some protesters appeared to swarm a smaller number of LAPD officers, who in turn called for backup. A police official said a female officer was struck in the head with a skateboard and taken to a hospital. The impact of the blow dented her helmet, the official said, but her injury appears not to be life-threatening.
Los Angeles Times

Riot revisionism
One of the overarching themes running through media coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King riots has been the transformation of the Los Angeles Police Department, with said theme being summed up thus: The cops were bad guys then, but are good (or better) guys now. The constant regurgitation of this theme reflects an ignorance of conditions in Los Angeles as they existed in the years leading up to the riots, and as one who has served with the LAPD for somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty years, I find it more than a bit tiresome.
Jack Dunphy/Ricochet

Lawsuit accusing LAPD in killing of football player dismissed
A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against the LAPD by the family of former college football player Reginald Doucet Jr., who was shot to death last year during a confrontation with officers. In dismissing the suit, U.S. District Court Judge Steven Wilson ruled that the LAPD was entitled to "qualified immunity," the legal principle that shields police in certain circumstances from being held responsible in civil lawsuits for their official actions.
Los Angeles Times

Immigration

May Day March in Van Nuys focused on immigration reform
Carrying bright yellow signs that read "Legalization Yes! Deportations No!" hundreds of people marched peacefully down Van Nuys Boulevard Tuesday morning as part of the annual May Day March for immigration reform. A heavy LAPD presence accompanied protestors as they made their way toward the heart of the Van Nuys Civic Center, and gathered around a bronze statue of an American Indian named Fernando, which is dedicated to the first inhabitants of the San Fernando Valley.
Los Angeles Daily News

Prisons

Prison cities growing as California adds nearly 251,000 people
California saw modest population growth last year, and the biggest boomtowns by percentage were two prison cities, according to a new release from the state Department of Finance. The state added 250,617 residents for a total of 37,678,563, a jump of 0.67 percent. According to Finance statistics, some of the most active regions had to do with prisoner counts. The fastest growing city was Calipatria in Imperial County, which grew 4.2 percent after adding 286 inmates at Calipatria State Prison along with some regular household growth.
Sacramento Bee

State Budget

S&P worried about possible California budget gimmicks
A credit rating agency on Tuesday warned that California could return to budget gimmicks this summer, in part because a court has removed an incentive for lawmakers to pass a spending plan that is truly balanced. The Standard & Poor's memo cautioned that the agency could revise its positive outlook on California's debt if the Legislature fails to pass a balanced budget by its June 15 deadline.
Associated Press

City Government

New Civic Park in downtown Los Angeles may close early to discourage encampments
Worried that encampments will pop up at the soon-to-open $56 million Civic Park, city officials want to coordinate rules and limited hours at the new park, as well as the restored City Hall park and other downtown open spaces. City Councilman Richard Alarcón said he introduced the motion at the request of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Alarcón's motion replaces a similar one by Councilman Jose Huizar, which sought to reduce nighttime operating hours at the City Hall park.
Los Angeles Daily News

Controller urges total overhaul of L.A. transportation department
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation needs a top-to-bottom overhaul of its management structure and improved methods for collecting revenues, according to a report released Monday by the City Controller's Office. The 218-page report includes 26 specific recommendations for reorganizing most of the agency's internal functions, including the management reorganization, simplification of its revenue collection and stepped-up internal controls of the department's budget.
Los Angeles Daily News