Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Brentwood, El Sereno and 13 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 15 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Seven 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 eight neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

L.A.'s budget committee moves to avoid layoffs at LAPD
Against the advice of the city's top budget analyst and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee today moved to avoid 96 layoffs of civilian Los Angeles Police Department workers. The committee voted 4-0 in favor of keeping the employees, citing serious threats to public safety if the jobs were not done. The civilian LAPD workers perform a variety of functions that support police work, including record keeping, fingerprinting, document retrieval for detectives and prosecutors, scheduling, time-keeping and other personnel functions.
City News Service

Suspect in Northridge killings had violated probation
The man accused of killing four people at a Northridge home over the weekend violated his probation two months before the mass killing but managed to avoid being sent back to prison, interviews and records show. Los Angeles County probation officials recommended at a September sentencing hearing that the man serve prison time after he was arrested on a drug possession charge. Instead, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Jessica Silvers ordered Ka Pasasouk to attend a drug treatment program and be released to the oversight of the Probation Department, according to court records and law enforcement officials.
Los Angeles Times

Police shoot, kill man in Hollywood domestic-violence call
Police responding to a domestic-violence call shot and killed a man in Hollywood early Thursday, authorities say. Officers were responding to a domestic-violence report when they came in contact with the man, said LAPD Officer Rosario Herrera. The suspect was shot in the 1800 block of Whitley Avenue about 7:30 a.m. and died at the scene. Investigators were waiting for the Los Angeles coroner's office to arrive at the scene at 10:30 a.m., Herrera said, and are expected to remain there for several hours.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD investigates Boyle Heights burglaries
Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollenbeck Division said they are investigating a series of commercial burglaries in Boyle Heights, especially along the Cesar E. Chavez Avenue corridor, over the last week. Detectives have some leads from a surveillance video from one of the businesses that were hit. Senior lead officers are asking that anyone with information on the burglaries call Detective William Eagleson at (323) 224-0117.
City News Service

Tennis umpire murder probe was 'by the books,' Beck says
Despite a decision by prosecutors to drop a murder charge against tennis umpire Lois Goodman, Los Angeles' police chief said Thursday that a review of the detectives' work shows they handled the investigation appropriately and acted on a coroner's report that was later contradicted by new information. Prosecutors last week dismissed the high-profile murder case against Goodman, who was accused of fatally bludgeoning her husband, Alan Goodman, with a coffee cup in April.
Los Angeles Times

18 arrested in federal crackdown on gang that operated near USC
Federal authorities on Thursday announced a sweeping racketeering indictment against a Mexican Mafia-controlled gang that operated in an L.A. neighborhood just north of USC and was allegedly involved in at least one slaying, drug sales, extortion and robberies. Eighteen members of the Harpys gang, also known as the Harpys-Dead End gang, were arrested Thursday morning on charges in three federal indictments resulting from "Operation Roman Empire."
Los Angeles Times

Caught on video: Armed robbers steal Sunday collection from Church on the Way in Van Nuys
Los Angeles police released security camera footage Thursday showing how masked, armed robbers stole the Sunday collection from Church on the Way employees in Van Nuys on Monday. Three suspects drove into the parking lot of the church at 14300 Sherman Way about 3:30 p.m. Monday, police said. They stopped behind a car with church employees who were about to take an undisclosed amount of money to the bank.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD, LASD get in the ring to raise funds for charity
City of Los Angeles police officers and deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were in opposite corners of a boxing ring earlier this week, squaring off in the name of charity. The 19th Annual City of Hope "Fight For Life" charity-boxing event in Montebello raised money for the cancer-treatment center devoted to fighting the disease. LAPD officers and LASD deputies faced off for nine bouts of boxing, including two exhibition matches in which both sides were declared winners.
Eastern Group Publications