Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Hollywood, Highland Park, 15 other neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 17 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Nine neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hollywood was the most unusual, recording 27 reports compared with a weekly average of 13.8 over the last three months. Highland Park topped the list of eight neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

Suspected drunken driver rear-ends LAPD car during DUI stop
A suspected drunken driver rear-ended a parked Los Angeles Police Department car in Reseda Sunday, totaling it and knocking it about 30 feet into a second police car. Police had another motorist pulled over on suspicion of DUI when the accident at Sherman Way and White Oak Avenue occurred about 1:30 a.m., LAPD Sgt. David Medof of the West Valley Station said. "The lanes were closed,'' Medof said. "He hit one car in the rear and pushed it 30 feet into the other car. The first police car is totaled. The other is damaged.''
City News Service

The bath salts banker
The protestation is a familiar one to police officers: "My son (or, brother, husband, friend, neighbor, or what have you) would never do that!" And "that" refers to whatever affront to the commonweal the son (or brother, etc.) had committed to bring himself to the attention of the police. The cop's response most often goes something like this: "He apparently would, and he apparently did, which is why he's on his way to jail right now." To the cop, there are few human foibles that come as a great surprise. But once in a great while there comes along a man whose downfall is so radically divergent from his ostensible station in life that even the most jaded police officer cannot help but look on and ask, “Who would have thought it?”
Jack Dunphy/Pajamas Media

Crime increases in Sacramento after deep cuts to police force
The shrinking of Sacramento's police force has been extreme; the department has lost more than 300 sworn officers and civilian staff members and more than 30 percent of its budget since 2008. But at a time when many cities are curtailing essential services like policing — the Los Angeles Police Department said last week that it could lay off 160 civilian employees by Jan. 1 — the cutbacks in this sprawling city of 472,000 offer a window on the potential consequences of such economizing measures, criminal justice experts say.
New York Times

Atlanta police helicopter crash kills 2 officers
A low-flying police helicopter searching for a runaway boy hit a power line pole before it plummeted to the ground and exploded, killing both officers on board but leaving those on the ground unharmed. Federal authorities were investigating what caused the chopper to crash into power lines along on a busy city street. Electricity was knocked out to nearby homes and businesses in an area filled with shopping plazas, fast-food restaurants and a gas station.
Associated Press

2 people found dead in Canoga Park home in possible murder-suicide
Two people believed to be victims of a murder-suicide were found dead in a Canoga Park home, police said Saturday. The pair were found about 3:15 p.m. Friday in a home in the 7100 block of Farralone Avenue, said Officer Rosario Herrera of the Los Angeles Police Department. "When officers arrived and entered the residence they found two victims with gunshot wounds," Herrera said in a statement. Both victims died at the scene from their injuries.
City News Service

Suspect in wheelchair sought in South L.A. shooting
Police were searching Sunday for a man in a wheelchair suspected of shooting another man in South Los Angeles. The shooting occurred near the intersection of Manchester and Vermont avenues about 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Art Duran said. The victim was struck "multiple times," Duran said, and the suspect fled the scene. Duran said the victim's current condition was not known; CNS reported he was taken to a hospital after being grazed in the head.
Los Angeles Times

Strip club employees shot at Fantasy Gold Club in Harbor City
Two employees at a Harbor City strip club were shot Saturday, the second shooting attack at the location within the last seven months, police said. The two employees stood inside the front doorway of the Fantasy Gold Club, 1612 E. Pacific Coast Highway, when a gunman approached them about 1 a.m. and fired shots, said Los Angeles police officer A. Rodriguez of the Harbor station. Rodriguez said one of the victims was shot in the leg.
City News Service

Suspect leads police on high-speed chase on eastbound 134 freeway in Toluca Lake
A reckless driving suspect who crashed at the end of a high-speed police chase on the eastbound Ventura (134) Freeway in Toluca Lake was in police custody Friday night. At one point during the chase, which started just after 9 p.m. and lasted less than 15 minutes, the 28-year-old suspect drove the wrong way in the eastbound lanes before turning around, said a Los Angeles police desk officer at the North Hollywood Station. The driver hit speeds around 100 mph while being pursued, according to KCAL9.
City News Service

Traffic

Pay lanes: A first in L.A County will start Saturday
On Saturday, for the first time in the history of Los Angeles County freeways, motorists stuck in traffic can pay for a faster ride. Congestion pricing - something familiar to many commuters in Riverside and Orange counties - will debut in L.A. as hybrid car-pool/toll lanes on an 11-mile stretch of the 110 Harbor Freeway. And early next year will bring the sequel. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, will also turn 14 miles of the well-traveled car-pool and bus lanes of the 10 Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley into high occupancy toll lanes in late January or early February.
San Gabriel Valley News

City Government

Los Angeles mayor race about to begin
While this election season has brought its own share of amusement - when else would you see a veteran congressman wrestle with another - it, thankfully, comes to an end Tuesday. But, just when you thought it was safe, get ready for more politics in this land of constant elections. Tuesday's vote brings to an end the big cycle of presidential politics, but just around the corner is the city's big cycle of electing a new mayor.
Los Angeles Daily News