Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Mid-Wilshire, Carthay and 21 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 23 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Nine neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Mid-Wilshire was the most unusual, recording 13 reports compared with a weekly average of 3.5 over the last three months. Carthay topped the list of 14 neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD officer finds elderly mother shot to death
A Los Angeles police officer who went to check on his mother after she didn't return his phone calls found her shot to death on Sunday. The officer found his elderly mother inside her South Los Angeles home around noon, department spokesman Cleon Joseph said. He said police had no suspect information and did not know the motive for the attack.
Associated Press

Armed man killed by LAPD officers in Boyle Heights
Los Angeles police officers shot and killed a man Friday morning in Boyle Heights after the suspect was seen carrying a weapon. Officers received reports at 5:50 a.m. of gunshots in the 2500 block of Houston Street, LAPD spokeswoman Rosario Herrera said. Officers heard more shots when they arrived at the scene and went to the back of a house, where they encountered the man. "Police saw a man with a gun, and that's when an officer-involved shooting occurred," Herrera said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Sgt. Larry Martinez honored by Phoenix House
During the 9th Annual Triumph for Teens Awards Gala, on June 6, 2012, at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Phoenix House will honor its long-time supporter and volunteer, LAPD Sergeant Larry Martinez. Sgt. Martinez of the Foothill Division of LAPD has made significant contributions to our treatment program at Phoenix House Academy of Los Angeles in Lake View Terrace, where he has led “Speak Up!” workshops with police officers and youth for the past three years.
Phoenix House

Two men shot after early morning argument on skid row
Los Angeles police are continuing to investigate a shooting on skid row that sent two homeless men to a hospital early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred just after 2 a.m. when a fight broke out among a group of about six people in the 600 block of Maple Street, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. One of the victims was shot in the leg; the other in the chest. Paramedics took both victims to a hospital, where the man shot in the leg was listed in stable condition Sunday morning, police said. The man shot in the chest underwent surgery and was in critical condition.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD gang officer fired upon while driving home from work
Los Angeles police are looking for a black sedan that opened fire on a gang officer as he drove home from work early Sunday morning, sources said. The sedan drove alongside the officer's car in the northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway between Los Feliz Boulevard and Colorado Street when someone inside fired multiple shots about 5:40 a.m., according to sources familiar with the investigation. The bullets struck the side panel of the vehicle but the officer was not hit.
Los Angeles Times

'Knock-knock' burglary items recovered by LAPD
Victims of the so-called "knock-knock" burglars in the Los Angeles-area may be able to get some of their property back. The suspects got the name because they would knock on the front door of a house to find out if anyone was home. Police said they have recovered over 3,000 items from the burglaries, including ones in Encino and Tarzana. The items include jewelry and watches. Many of the items were found in a hidden compartment in a Beverly Hills home. Investigators believe many of the stolen items were taken in burglaries committed throughout Southern California over the past two to three years.
ABC7

Witnesses pull alleged attacker off woman near Runyon Canyon
A 21-year-old man was arrested after allegedly attacking a woman near Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills on Saturday morning, police said. The woman was walking on Fuller Avenue when the man grabbed her about 8:30 a.m. and tried to rape her, Los Angeles police Sgt. Sal Ogaz said. Witnesses pulled the man off the woman and held him down until police arrived, Ogaz said.
Los Angeles Times

Retired LAPD officer recalls the night he arrested Robert Kennedy's assassin
A note of static, then the dispatcher's voice rang clear over the squad car's radio: "Ambulance. Shooting, 3400 Wilshire Boulevard." With lights flashing and sirens blaring rookie Los Angeles police Officer Arthur Placencia and his training partner, Travis White, raced to the well-known address - the city's posh Ambassador Hotel. It was just after midnight June 5, 1968.
Redlands Daily Facts

LA police officer sets Ferris Wheel record
After a record-breaking 25 hours on a Ferris Wheel, Los Angeles police Detective Gus Martinez likely knows better than anyone that what goes around comes around. Martinez climbed aboard the 130-foot-tall wheel at Santa Monica Pier's Pacific Park at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Except for hourly five-minute breaks, he didn't stop riding it until 8:30 a.m. Friday. Several hours into his run, he didn't even bother to take some of the allotted breaks.
Associated Press

Legislation

Car impound restrictions would endanger us all
With last week's introduction of AB 1993 by state Assemblywoman FIona Ma, law enforcement in California would be unable to impound vehicles from unlicensed drivers, as is currently the practice. A few cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco already have impound laws that allow undocumented immigrants to avoid losing their cars. These policies are new so there's no measure of their success or failure, but logic dictates that if we turn a blind eye to unqualified drivers out of political pandering, the above statistic about 18 percent of car accidents involving the unlicensed will inevitably go up.
Bakersfield Californian

Pensions

As costs soar, taxpayers target pensions of cops and firefighter
On Tuesday, voters in San Jose will decide whether to overhaul pensions for all city employees, including about 2,200 public-safety workers. The ballot measure makes San Jose one of only a few places in the U.S. where voters have unilateral power to restructure pensions. The initiative would force current city workers to either contribute more to keep their promised benefits or accept a more modest pension. It would also give the city the right to temporarily suspend cost-of-living raises that retired workers now receive.
Wall Street Journal