Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Studio City, Toluca Lake and 7 other areas
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. Studio City was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months. Toluca Lake topped the list of four neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Positive law enforcement fatality trend no cause for complacency
It comes as something of a relief that recent trends in law enforcement fatalities were reversed nationwide in the first half of 2012, even as we continue to mourn the 53 officers who died in the line of duty. The news came Thursday as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), in conjunction with the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), released preliminary statistics for the period Jan. 1 through June 30, 2012. Officer fatalities declined 44 percent over the 94 officers who lost their lives during the first half of 2011, a 52-year low.
LAPPL Blog

LAPD to ration fingerprint analysis to deal with backlog
A shortage of fingerprint experts at the Los Angeles Police Department has caused a large backlog of unanalyzed fingerprints, resulting in long delays to thousands of active criminal investigations. The LAPD's beleaguered Latent Print Unit has failed to analyze fingerprints from about 2,200 burglaries, auto thefts and other property-related crimes, according to department figures. Detectives wait on average between two and three months to get print results back from the lab, LAPD officials said
Los Angeles Times

Suspect in L.A. homeless stabbings linked to two other attacks, police say
A homeless man who authorities suspect stabbed three Los Angeles-area transients while they slept and left behind rambling "death warrants" is believed to also be responsible for two other knife attacks in Santa Barbara, police said Saturday. Courtney Anthony Robinson, 38, called 911 at around 8:40 p.m. Friday and surrendered to police shortly after at a Hong Kong Express eatery in the center of Hollywood, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith told reporters at a briefing. Smith said Robinson was "lucid" and was taken into custody without incident.
Los Angeles Times

Man killed, woman injured in Boyle Heights shooting
A 20-year-old man was killed and a woman injured Friday morning after shots were fired from a car as the two stood on a street corner in Boyle Heights, authorities said. The shooting occurred in the 500 block of N. Mission Road, where the man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The woman was listed in critical condition at a hospital. The Los Angeles Police Department said officers are looking for two people in a dark Dodge Charger with temporary license plates in connection with the case.
Los Angeles Times

$50,000 reward offered for information in killing of Hoagies & Wings cook
The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who can produce information leading to the arrest and conviction of the men responsible for the fatal shooting of Raul Lopez, a cook at Hoagies & Wings on Ventura Boulevard. Police and city officials will on Tuesday, July 24 hold a press conference at Hoagies & Wings' 14552 Ventura Blvd. location to announce the reward. Los Angeles City Council member Tom LaBonge, District 4 LAPD Van Nuys Area Captain Paul Snell and LAPD Van Nuys Area Homicide Detectives will also be on hand.
Sherman Oaks Patch

City hopes cameras will deter gang activity in South L.A. park
A rap video featuring a guide to making crack cocaine resurfaced online, pushing officials to renew efforts to install cameras in Jackie Tatum Harvard Park. The video pushed the city to fund cameras at the park, a $200,000 project that had stalled in City Hall for almost three years due to budget constraints. Now, the first camera is slated to go up later this month. For years, police and city officials have battled gang members at the park.
Los Angeles Times

Chicago turns to Los Angeles for help as murder numbers rise
As Chicago turns into the murder capital of the country, it is turning for help to Los Angeles, which has overcome its violent past of more than a decade ago. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has blamed the increasing violence on gangs, a problem Los Angeles knows well. Emanuel recently called Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to talk about strategies to deal with the gangs and Chicago officials have met with Deputy Mayor Guillermo Cespedes, who oversees the anti-gang program here.
Los Angeles Daily News

Budget woes could result in loss of 40 Long Beach police officers
Budget woes could result in the elimination of 40 police officer positions by this fall, including 20 gang enforcement assignments, at the Long Beach Police Department, the Press-Telegram has learned. Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell and his administrative team met with City Manager Pat West earlier this month to lay out their proposal for meeting the city's budget shortfall, several sources within the Police Department told the Press-Telegram.
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Sheriff's Department considers variety of options to ease jail overcrowding
Once-crowded cells now sit empty inside Men's Central Jail, as Sheriff Lee Baca clears out the places where deputies have been accused of beating inmates. He wants the most violence-plagued modules, which contain about 1,000 beds, shut down before the end of the year. The closure, however, may not be permanent, given that the population in the Los Angeles County jail system is already at about 90 percent of capacity, and still growing.
Los Angeles Daily News

Lone gunmen always a law enforcement challenge
The lone gunman keeps law enforcement officers across the country awake at night. He's hard to pick out of a crowd. He has no criminal record. Often, he hasn't told anyone about his plans. He's compiled a weapons cache legally. He doesn't show up on any law enforcement radar until after he's acted. The government has been more successful stopping al-Qaida from pulling off another Sept. 11-type attack than it has in preventing deadly shooting sprees such as the one in the movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Associated Press