Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Panorama City, Adams-Normandie, 4 other areas
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in six L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Two neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Panorama City was the most unusual, recording 10 reports compared with a weekly average of 6.0 over the last three months. Adams-Normandie topped the list of four neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Can computers predict crimes?
Columbo would have hated the latest trend in crime-fighting. And it definitely would have made Dirty Harry even more unhinged. But Sherlock Holmes, now he would have been impressed. The logic, the science, the compilation of data–all the stuff of Holmesian detective work. I'm talking about something known as predictive policing–gathering loads of data and applying algorithms to deduce where and when crimes are most likely to occur. Late last month, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that it will be expanding its use of software created by a California startup named PredPol.
Smithsonian Magazine

Sage Stallone probe: Now robbery-homicide joins investigation
The Los Angeles Police Department's robbery-homicide division is involved in the investigation into the death of Sage Stallone, the son of actor Sylvester Stallone, but officials stressed Monday it is primarily a coroner's case and there were no signs of foul play. Sage Stallone, who was found dead at his Studio City home on Friday, was 36. The Los Angeles County coroner's office performed an autopsy over the weekend but authorities said the results of toxicology tests won't be known for up to two months.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD reviewing its handling of Art Walk melee, Chief Beck says
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said that after an initial review of last week's skirmish between officers and protesters during downtown's monthly Art Walk event he believes the department "overall responded appropriately." He added that department officials are in the midst of conducting a more thorough review of the night's events, in which they will look into whether the "hard line enforcement" approach that police took was necessary.
Los Angeles Times

Suspect in fatal Koreatown hit-and-run turns himself in
A driver suspected in a fatal hit-and-run incident in Koreatown turned himself in to detectives, police said Monday evening. Hari Robert Andujar, 44, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and being held on $50,000 bail, said Officer Bruce Borihanh of the Los Angeles Police Department. He turned himself in late Sunday. The victim, a 42-year-old man, was struck Saturday night about 11:20 p.m. at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Norton Avenue, police said. The victim was crossing Olympic but was not in a crosswalk at the time, according to police.
Los Angeles Times

Missing woman called home from Nevada, Palmdale and maybe downtown L.A.
A 61-year-old woman who called her family from Nevada as she was returning to Los Angeles to say that she was lost, and later called from Palmdale and possibly even downtown, was being sought by Los Angeles police Monday. Arely Vasquez was last seen in Henderson in Nevada on Saturday about 6:45 p.m., according to Detective K. Merrill. Her last phone call came around 8 p.m. Sunday, possibly from the downtown Los Angeles area.
City News Service

Sponge-fraud!
Artist Todd White seemingly had it all. With a multi-million-dollar art brand, collectors and clients ranging from Sylvester Stallone to Coca-Cola, and a burgeoning reputation in art-mad Britain, his days as lead character designer of SpongeBob SquarePants were but a distant memory. But when his confidante and gallerist Peggy Howell reported a burglary of his paintings at the hand of ninjas, things took a turn for the even stranger.
Vanity Fair

Prison Realignment

Gov. Brown taps Susan Mauriello for realignment oversight
Gov. Jerry Brown has announced the appointment of Susan Mauriello to a new board charged with overseeing a dramatic overhaul of the state's criminal justice system. The move is a reappointment of sorts for Mauriello, Santa Cruz County's top administrator. She was on a prior board known as the Corrections Standards Authority, which dissolved June 30. The Board of State and Community Corrections replaced that body, and is more narrowly focused on the challenges accompanying prison realignment.
Santa Cruz Sentinel

City Government

L.A. sues US Bank over blighted, abandoned homes
On Monday, Los Angeles officials accused US Bank of illegally allowing foreclosed homes to deteriorate into slums. The civil allegations found problems in the way US Bank handled 1,500 home foreclosures and cited more than 150 homes that had fallen into disrepair. The city is demanding that the bank clean up vacant properties and improve conditions for families living in others. The lawsuit marks the second time the city has accused a major bank of being a slumlord, part of an aggressive attempt to deal with the urban decay caused by the housing crash.
Los Angeles Times

Neighborhood Empowerment manager leaves L.A. for San Diego
The general manager of the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment announced Monday he is leaving to become the new director of civic engagement for the private San Diego Foundation. B.H. Kim, a longtime community organizer who came to the DONE post five years ago, said he is proud of what he has accomplished in improving communications with the city's 95 neighborhood councils and bringing order to what was a chaotic situation. "It was a mess," Kim said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Pensions

Largest public pension fund earns dismal 1 percent
The nation's largest public pension fund reported a dismal 1 percent return on its investments, a figure far short of projections that will likely add pressure on California's state and local governments to contribute more, officials said Monday. The California Public Employees' Retirement System reported its returns for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The 1 percent return is well below its projected annual return of 7.5 percent.
Associated Press