Law Enforcement

Topanga police report drop in major crime
Part one crimes in the Topanga area are down overall, reported Capt. Tom Brascia of the Los Angeles Police Department's Topanga Community Police Station at an area town hall meeting Thursday. He did warn those in attendance, however, of specific crime trends. Part one crimes are what community members might consider the major crime concerns and include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and auto theft.
Woodland Hills Patch

On tape, bank executive suing LAPD says he used bath salts '20 times'
A bank executive suing the Los Angeles Police Department for $50 million over claims that he was badly beaten by officers during a bizarre encounter told an officer in Glendale two days earlier that he had snorted bath salts and thought he was being followed by a helicopter. Deutsche Bank Vice Chairman Brian Mulligan claims two LAPD officers used excessive force on him during his arrest in Highland Park on May 15. While the County of Los Angeles Office of Independent Review and LAPD investigate Mulligan's complaint, his own words are being used by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police officers union, to assert that he is a liar, specifically regarding the use of the hallucinogenic street drug which may trigger paranoia and combative behavior.
ABC7 LAPPL News Release

Denny's in Reseda robbed by man simulating weapon under sweatshirt
A man holding a hand in his sweatshirt as if he had a gun robbed a Denny's in Reseda, police said Sunday. The robbery at Reseda Boulevard and Saticoy Street was reported about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Los Angeles police Sgt. David Medof of the West Valley Station said. "He demanded money at the register, then ran northbound into some apartment complexes," Medof said. Police did not disclose how much cash he got.
City News Service

LAPD cop mom murder plea
A 59-year-old woman pleaded not guilty Monday to capital murder in the shooting death of her 79-year-old aunt, who was the mother of a Los Angeles Police Department training officer. Barbara Jean Davenport stood behind glass in a holding area in a downtown courtroom as her lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Jason Marcus, entered the plea on her behalf. Davenport is charged with one count each of murder and attempted first- degree residential robbery of Hughes. is being held without bail in connection with the June 2 slaying of Cleo Hughes.
City News Service

Arrest doesn't deter Occupy San Fernando Valley activists in 52-day sit-in at foreclosed Van Nuys home
Two days after being arrested, Ulises Hernandez was back on the couch Monday at Fort Hernandez. That's the nickname he and supporters have given to the Van Nuys home Hernandez's brother bought in 2006, which the family is trying to keep despite a foreclosure after four years of not paying their mortgage. The house has become the site of a sit-in by Occupy San Fernando Valley, a group inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests. Tuesday marks its 52nd day.
Los Angeles Daily News

Traffic safety officials offer guidelines for safe teen driving
The Department of Transportation has launched a new push to get parents and teens to talk more about safe driving as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs through Saturday. Parents also should model safe-driving habits for their teens if they want to make an impression, safety officials said. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,963 drivers between the ages of 15 to 20 died and an additional 187,000 young drivers were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2010.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

Riordan moves to qualify pension reform measure for L.A. ballot
Saying that major pension reforms are needed to keep Los Angeles out of municipal bankruptcy, former Mayor Richard Riordan on Monday took the initial steps to place a measure that would cut retirement benefits on next year's ballot. Riordan aides filed a request for a so-called title and summary, the first requirement to get his proposal on the May 2013 ballot. The ballot initiative would move newly hired workers into 401(k)-style plans, ending pension guarantees for future city workers.
Los Angeles Times

Immigration

Los Angeles looking at 'City Service Card' for undocumented immigrants
With the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a proposal to create a "City Service Card" that could be used as a limited form of identification by undocumented immigrants gets its first review Tuesday. The card was proposed by City Councilman Richard Alarcón to allow the undocumented, and other city residents, access to a debit card and banking services, and a city library account. But L.A.'s plan and similar programs in other cities have faced heavy criticism from anti-undocumented-immigration groups, who claim it simply makes it easier for undocumented immigrants to live in Los Angeles in violation of federal law.
Los Angeles Daily News

Prisons

Prison hunger strikers raise issues with state gang policy
Inmates on a six-day hunger strike at the state prison near Tehachapi are raising objections over new state policies on how gang members are identified and treated, state officials say. Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said those policies have yet to be implemented and are under review by the state Office of Administrative Law. As of Monday, 161 inmates within segregated cell blocks at the California Correctional Institution, called the Security Housing Unit, continued to refuse meals, Thornton said.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. parking ticket refunds can now be researched online
Drivers who want to know if the city of Los Angeles owes them a parking ticket refund can search for their names on a new online database. The Department of Transportation's Parking Violations Bureau on Monday posted the names of nearly 1,100 people who prevailed in their challenges of parking tickets between September 2007 and August 2008. The City Council voted last month to shift more than $56,000 in refund proceeds into the city budget without notifying those who were owed the money.
Los Angeles Times

Critics alarmed by digital billboard plan that would pay city of L.A.
Pushed by the major sign companies, Los Angeles officials are considering crafting special laws to protect digital billboards, rules that could allow the cash-strapped city to share revenues from the blinking displays. Amid concerns from neighborhood groups and smaller billboard companies about a backroom, the City Council will vote Tuesday on forming a working group to create new digital sign laws. The group would include representatives from the billboard companies.
Los Angeles Daily News