Pensions

Pension scheme that will cost hundreds of millions receives official title and summary
Calling former Mayor Richard Riordan's proposal to change the retirement benefits for all current and future City employees "deeply flawed," the Los Angeles Police Protective League urged voters Wednesday not to sign the petitions that could put the Charter Amendment on the May 2013 ballot. The proposal, now called the "Bankruptcy Avoidance and Pension Protection Act," will dramatically increase the City's required payments to the three Los Angeles pension systems.
LAPPL News Release

Law Enforcement

2 detained in shooting at Halloween Party on USC Campus
Two people have been detained in a shooting at a Halloween party on the USC campus that left four people wounded. It happened just before midnight outside a packed party at the Tutor Campus Center, at the center of the USC campus. Police said that the gunman opened fire on one person outside the party, but also hit three bystanders. The targeted person was in critical condition, and the three others suffered non-life-threatening wounds, authorities said.
KTLA

2 people arrested in raid at West Valley pot shop, owner's home
Two people arrested in a raid at a West Valley pot shop and the owner's home were facing possible drug charges Wednesday. Gennady Tikhonov, 54, of Sherman Oaks and Vyacheslav Bugakov, 39, of North Hollywood, were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and held on $20,000 bail each, according to Los Angeles police. Detectives from the Topanga Station served a search warrant at a storefront operation in the 19900 block of Ventura Boulevard Tuesday afternoon, then searched the owner's home in the 14700 block of Valleyheart Drive, police said.
City News Service

67-year-old woman who escaped from detention in Los Angeles 12 years ago captured in Fairfax, Virginia
A 67-year-old woman who escaped from detention in Los Angeles 12 years ago was captured in Fairfax, Va., the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported Wednesday. Carolyn Macy was sent to state prison from Santa Clara County on May 25, 1999. She was sentenced to three years for grand theft from an employer. Prior to her scheduled parole, she was transferred to the Central City Community Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, 2000. On Feb. 2 of that year, she vanished.
City News Service

Supreme Court to revisit use of dogs as basis for drug searches
Researchers at UC Davis set up a simple experiment to test police dogs and their fabled ability to detect drugs. They told 18 police dog handlers they had hidden small amounts of illegal drugs in four rooms of a church. Over two days of testing, the drug-sniffing dogs alerted their handlers repeatedly and in every room — 225 times in all. And they were twice as likely to alert on spots marked with red construction paper that the handlers had been told would indicate drugs. But in fact, no drugs were in any of the rooms, suggesting the "handler's beliefs" and their "hidden cues" may trigger the dog to alert on a target of suspicion, the researchers said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD withheld key details in use-of-force case
The Los Angeles Police Department's news release on an Oct. 12 officer-involved shooting seemed fairly routine. Officers searching for several suspects who had fled after being stopped for questioning found one hiding under an SUV on Woodlawn Avenue in South L.A. The officers pulled the suspect out by his ankles, saw what looked like a metallic object in his hands and opened fire, critically wounding him. But one crucial piece of information was left out of the release: The suspect's hands were cuffed behind his back at the time and he was lying on his stomach. In response to questions by The Times, LAPD officials acknowledged this week that before the suspect was shot, he had escaped the custody of other officers who had handcuffed him earlier.
Los Angeles Times

Traffic

More than 20,000 transponders pre-issued for 110 Freeway toll lanes
As officials gear up to unveil Los Angeles County's first toll lane -- in November on the Harbor Freeway -- the county's transportation agency announced that it has already issued more than 20,000 FasTrak transponders to motorists planning to use the express lane. "The public's support for this project has been impressive as we issue more than 20,000 FasTrak transponders before the start of operations," Art Leahy, head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in a news release.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Facing deficits, L.A. Council moves forward with proposed tax hikes
The Los Angeles City Council moved forward with four proposed tax increases on Wednesday, instructing city lawyers to draw up the language for ballot measures that would raise property, real estate, parking and sales taxes. Council President Herb Wesson said he hopes only one of those proposed increases ends up on the ballot in March. He is pushing for the half-cent sales tax hike, which would generate an estimated $220 million in new revenue for the financially strapped city.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. City Atty. Trutanich gets reprieve after tough week
After a week of setbacks, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich got a treat from the City Council on Halloween on Wednesday as it delayed action on a proposed ballot measure asking voters to strip the city's legal adviser of some of his duties. A majority of council members said a motion to place the measure on the March primary ballot, made last week by Councilman Paul Krekorian, needed more review.
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles bans sale of commercially bred dogs, cats, rabbits in pet stores
With wide support from the animal community, Los Angeles on Wednesday became the latest city to adopt a ban on the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores. The City Council, in a 13-2 vote, gave final approval to the measure that will require the stores to take animals from city shelters to make available for adoption.
Los Angeles Daily News

Greuel warns Los Angeles still vulnerable in disaster preparedness
As Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast, City Controller Wendy Greuel issued a stern warning to City leaders and department heads that crucial actions need to be taken immediately to ensure Los Angeles is prepared to respond to a major disaster. "This catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is a reminder that Los Angeles needs to have a world-class response plan to help ensure the safety of all Angelenos," said Greuel.
News Release