Law Enforcement

The LAPD's overtime issue
The struggle to expand the Los Angeles Police Department to 10,000 officers has occupied three mayors over two decades. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has brought the department right to the verge of that benchmark - the force today numbers 9,824 - but an important budgeting decision a few years back has quietly whittled away at the achievement, undermining some of the LAPD's crime-fighting efforts and creating a growing long-term liability for the city that will hamstring the mayor's successor.
Jim Newton/Los Angeles Times

LAPD: Hit-and-run driver strikes power pole, causes commercial building fire in Sun Valley
A hit-and-run driver struck a power pole in Sun Valley today, causing power surge, transformer explosion and fire that heavily damaged a commercial building in Sun Valley. More than 120 Los Angeles firefighters were assigned to the 3:05 a.m. blaze at 10817 Sherman Way, which was put out in about an hour and 20 minutes, David Ortiz of the fire department said. The fire became so intense that firefighters got out of the roughly 100-by-150-foot concrete exterior building and poured on water from the perimeter.
City News Service

LAPD officer reportedly injured in hit-and-run
A Los Angeles motorcycle officer was struck and injured by a hit-and-run driver in Mission Hills, police announced Friday. The crash occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m. on Thursday in the 15500 block of Rinaldi Street, according to Officer Cleon Joseph of the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators believe a dark colored four-door sedan, possibly a Dodge Charger, traveling east on Rinaldi Street, veered right and hit the LAPD motor officer, who was also traveling eastbound on Rinaldi, Joseph said.
City News Service

LAPD seeks community feedback about old Texaco station lot
The West L.A. Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is beginning to tackle nuisances at the old Texaco station at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Barrington. The police did not provide details, but said the lot and the building at 115 South Barrington Ave., along with some of its inhabitants and visitors, have been "historically problematic" to the community. Senior lead officer Maria Gray emailed the community Friday afternoon with forms from the department's citywide nuisance abatement unit.
Brentwood Patch

LAPD apologizes for releasing Biggie Smalls' autopsy without notifying his family
The LAPD said in a statement Saturday that the department has apologized for going public with a coroner's report on Christopher Wallace's death before speaking with the rap/hip hop star's family. Wallace, known as Biggie Smalls, was killed by a still unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997. Police said because of an administrative error, the autopsy report was released before Wallace's family was notified.
Los Angeles Daily News

Man fatally shot in Watts while sitting in his car
A man in his 30s was fatally shot as he sat in his car in Watts early Friday morning, Los Angeles police said. LAPD officers responded to calls of shots fired in the 10000 block of South Beach Boulevard at 1:43 a.m. and found a man with life-threatening gunshot wounds. Paramedics took him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released pending notification of next of kin. It is at least the third shooting in the area this week, but it is unclear whether any of them are related, police said.
Los Angeles Times

Cooley leaves legacy of fighting corruption, increasing DNA use
He waged an insurgent campaign against his boss to become Los Angeles County district attorney, promising to act as a prosecutor not a politician. Twelve years later, Steve Cooley retired last week as one of the county's most entrenched political fixtures, having served a historic tenure as top prosecutor, reshaped the most powerful office in the local criminal justice system and left his mark on California law enforcement.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

Bill extends social media protections to public-sector workers
Public-sector employers in California wouldn't be allowed to ask their employees or job applicants for access to personal social media accounts, such as Twitter and Facebook, under the provisions of a measure introduced this week. Assembly Bill 25, authored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos should be a slam-dunk. The San Jose Democrat wrote a similar measure that sailed through the Legislature virtually unopposed during the last session. Gov. Jerry Brown signed it in September to take effect Jan. 1.
Sacramento Bee

City Election 2013

L.A. mayoral candidates discuss housing, education, city services
The four candidates competing to replace outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa squared off in South Los Angeles on Friday, debating the respective roles that housing, education, city services and budget cuts play in the lives of area residents. The forum at the St. John's Well Child and Family Center was intended to focus on health issues in an area of the city where political power has moved steadily from black to Latino voters. However, the candidates' comments were wide-ranging.
Los Angeles Times

State Government

PUC set to OK free phones for homeless
Homeless and other poor people in California are on track to soon get virtually free cell phones and service so they can keep in touch with family, potential employers and others crucial to improving their lives. The cell phones would be handed out through a federally funded Lifeline program - already operated by service provider Assurance Wireless in 36 other states - that is likely to win final approval in the next couple of weeks from the California Public Utilities Commission.
San Francisco Chronicle