Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Encino and eight 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. Encino was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.7 over the last three months. West Los Angeles topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Jury convicts man of attempted murder of LAPD officers
On Oct. 15, 2008, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier flagged down two police officers working the Olympic Area transition team. The mail carrier had been hit in the head by Romeo Ramos after requesting that Mr. Ramos sign a certified mail receipt. As the officers were attempting to detain him, Mr. Ramos pulled a knife and attempted to stab one of the officers. They drew their weapons and he immediately turned and walked into his apartment building.
LAPPL Blog

LAPD responds to eight shootings in six hours in South L.A.
Los Angeles police responded to at least eight shootings -- including two homicides -- during a six-hour period overnight in South L.A., where a modified tactical alert was called when police were pelted with lighted fireworks and other objects by reputed gang members. Several officers were injured after responding to a disturbance call early Thursday in the 1300 block of East 111th Place. The initial call came about 1 a.m., reporting 30 people were fighting outside an apartment, where police found more than 250 people in a nearby parking lot drinking and lighting fireworks as a DJ blasted music.
Los Angeles Times

Nearly 700 DUI arrests made in L.A. County between Friday and Wednesday
Nearly 700 DUI arrests were made throughout Los Angeles County between Friday and Wednesday as law enforcement officers were out in force, the Avoid the 100 DUI Campaign announced Thursday. The campaign is a coordinated effort among law enforcement agencies that includes increased patrols and sobriety/driver's license checkpoints. Funding is provided from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
City News Service

Councilman: LAPD should look at OIS policy -- not stats
A Los Angeles city councilman says police should focus on whether officer-involved shootings are within policy -- not whether statistics show they are related to attacks on cops. A new report on officer-involved shootings and violent attacks on police officers should push the Los Angeles Police Department to look at whether shootings are in policy, rather than if the shootings and attacks are connected, a Los Angeles city councilman said Thursday.
KPCC

LAX cleared on allegations it improperly diverted security funds
Los Angeles International Airport was cleared on allegations of improperly diverting airport security funds for unrelated services, but officials were alerted to three record-keeping problems that need to be corrected, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday. LAX needs to correct at least one billing error and keep track of which Los Angeles Police Department officers are assigned to patrol the airport, along with how bomb-sniffing dogs are assigned to calls away from LAX, FAA officials said in a written statement, marking the agency's conclusion of a seven-month probe.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Virus could black out nearly 250,000 PCs
About a quarter-million computer users around the world are at risk of losing Internet access on Monday because of malicious software at the heart of a hacking scam that U.S. authorities shut down last November. Some blogs and news reports hyped the risk of an outage, warning of a potential "blackout" and describing the Alureon malware as the "Internet Doomsday" virus. Yet experts said only a tiny fraction of computer users were at risk, and Internet providers would be on call to quickly restore service.
Reuters

Immigration

California Senate OKs bill that would blunt deportation effort
A bill that that would restrict California law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts passed the state Senate on Thursday. The Trust Act would prohibit police and sheriff's officials from detaining arrestees for possible deportation unless the suspects have previous convictions for a serious or violent felony.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

State will not override local pension votes, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg says
State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg on Thursday calmed fears of elected officials in San Diego and San Jose that pension-reform measures passed overwhelmingly last month by voters in the two cities could be overridden by state legislation on pensions. "I would not favor doing anything that would affect the voter-approved initiatives," the Senate president pro tem told reporters Thursday, a day before the Legislature breaks for its summer recess.
Oakland Tribune

City Government

Anger after L.A. hikes parking fines for 6th time in 7 years
Los Angeles' decision to raise fines for parking violations an additional $5 -- marking the sixth time in seven years -- has generated criticism. Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, which advocates on behalf of low-income renters, said working-class families would struggle to pay their parking fines, which are higher than in any neighboring city.
Los Angeles Times