Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Brentwood and 10 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 11 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. Brentwood was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.2 over the last three months. El Sereno topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD arrests 4 in Las Vegas in connection to quadruple homicide in Northridge
Four suspects were arrested Tuesday in Las Vegas as suspects in four fatal shootings that happened early Sunday outside a home in Northridge. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the suspects were arrested Monday afternoon at the Silverton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The arrests were detained without incident, police say. Only one person, Ka Pasasouk, 31, of Los Angeles was arrested on suspicion of murder. The other three were taken into custody on suspicion of aiding a felon.
Southern California Public Radio

Robbers steal Sunday offering from Church on the Way in Van Nuys
Church collections that took a weekend to gather were gone in seconds at the barrel of a gun. Police were searching for two armed robbers who stole the collection plate money at The Church on the Way in Van Nuys on Monday, escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash. The men approached a car containing church employees and the weekend offerings at 3:45 p.m. at the Foursquare megachurch at 14300 Sherman Way, Los Angeles police said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Immigration

Local police can decide whether to hold illegal immigrants, state attorney general says
California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday told local law enforcement agencies that they were not obligated to comply with a controversial federal program launched in 2008 with the goal of deporting illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes. It was Harris' first public assessment of Secure Communities, under which all arrestees' fingerprints are sent to federal immigration officials, who then may ask police departments to hold suspected illegal immigrants so deportation proceedings can begin.
Los Angeles Times

Public Safety

L.A. City Council grills LAFD chief Brian Cummings on response times
More than a year after the Los Angeles Fire Department was faulted for slower emergency response times and faulty response data, Fire Chief Brian Cummings acknowledged Tuesday his agency needs to develop a full, transparent plan to deal with the issues. Over a two-hour session before the City Council, Cummings said earlier figures on response times were incorrect and the department is in the process of analyzing how it tracks both medical and fire emergency responses.
Los Angeles Daily News

Homeland Security

Homeland Security grants abused, report says
A decade long, $7-billion federal program to help local police and fire departments prepare for a terrorist attack has allowed communities to buy millions of dollars worth of equipment that goes unused or is unrelated to terrorism, according to a new report. The study found that some cities and towns had created implausible attack scenarios to win federal grants, and had scrambled at the end of each fiscal year to buy extra, unnecessary gadgets to spend excess cash.
Los Angeles Times

County Government

Sheriff Lee Baca says he needs $34M more to institute jail reforms
Sheriff Lee Baca has calculated he needs at least $34 million to beef up supervision at county jails and implement other reforms sought by the Commission on Jail Violence to prevent deputies from abusing inmates. In a report to the Board of Supervisors, released Tuesday, Baca estimated the overall cost of implementing the blue-ribbon panel's 63 recommendations is at least $60.9 million.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. County property owners to consider stormwater cleanup fee
Los Angeles County property owners began to receive notices this week of a proposed measure to impose a parcel fee that would fund efforts to clean up stormwater that flows into the county's waterways. Property owners will have until Jan. 15 to protest the proposal in writing. On that date, the county Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing and could vote to move forward with an election on the measure unless they receive written protests from a majority of property owners. The election would probably be conducted entirely by mail.
Los Angeles Times

Election 2012

Measure J sales tax extension officially fails to pass
Measure J, which would have extended an existing transit sales tax for another 30 years, officially failed to pass, officials said Monday. The measure needed 66.67 percent of the vote. It received 66.11 percent. Since the Nov. 6 election, county officials have been counting final votes in a number of close contests, including Measure J. The measure would have extended Measure R, a half-percent sales tax approved in 2008, until 2039.
Los Angeles Daily News

Election 2012

Ports strike settlement reached
A more than week-long strike at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach ended late Tuesday night, allowing for members of the International Longshore Warehouse Union to return to work and for the nation's largest port complex to return to full operation. The sides reached an agreement just after a federal mediator arrived to engage them in what were expected to be even more serious talks.
Torrance Daily Breeze