Law Enforcement

Sandy Hook massacre creates 'new reality,' LAPD chief says
The Los Angeles Police Department plans to significantly increase its presence at the city's more than 540 public elementary and middle schools, with Chief Charlie Beck saying the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., has created a "new reality" his department must address. In outlining his plan Monday, Beck said his goal is for uniformed officers to visit the public school campuses on a daily basis, a major change in LAPD deployment strategy that will place additional logistical stress on a police force already stretched thin by the city's fiscal crisis.
Los Angeles Times

Alleged threats against 'multiple elementary schools' lands Pomona man in jail
A 24-year-old Pomona man was arrested in Los Angeles Sunday for posting violent threats against local schools on Facebook, Los Angeles police said Monday. Kyle Bangayan was arrested at 11:15 a.m. at his parents' home in the 1200 block of North New Hampshire Avenue in Los Angeles. Police said the threats didn't target specific schools but did reference Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. moves up gun buyback after Connecticut shooting
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Monday that the city's gun buyback day would be moved to Dec. 26 to give Angelenos "concrete action" after Friday's deadly shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. At a news conference Monday afternoon, the mayor said the buyback program - which offers residents a chance to turn in weapons for grocery gift cards with "no questions asked" - would be held next week instead of May as originally scheduled.
Los Angeles Times

Law enforcement deaths down 20 percent in 2012: study
In a bit of rare positive news in a nation focused on the effects of gun violence, a police memorial fund reported Monday that deaths among law enforcement personnel are down 20 percent this year compared with 2011. The preliminary report by the Washington, D.C.-based National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found that a total of 123 federal, state and local officers died in the line of duty through December 17, 2012, with 45 from firearms-related deaths, 50 from traffic-related deaths, and 28 from other causes.
Reuters

Seasons Givings: South LA kids make PALs with LAPD
The makeshift training area underneath the LAPD's Newton Division isn't much. That's because it's also the police station's underground parking garage. Among the police cruisers, there's a big mat, a couple of punching bags and assorted strength-and-conditioning equipment. Each LAPD division has its own PAL program, and Newton's, like many others, relies on volunteers. It's not just Crossfit; there are other organized physical activities, as well as tutoring and field trips.
Southern California Public Radio

Help catch bank robbers
Bank robbers last year walked away from federally insured banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and armored trucks with more than $38 million in cash, according to the last full year of FBI bank crime statistics. In one in five cases, the money was recovered. In the unsolved cases, surveillance images of suspects were often posted online-on FBI wanted posters and elsewhere-to enlist the public's help. To further that effort, the FBI has launched a new Wanted Bank Robbers website at bankrobbers.fbi.gov, the first national system of its kind.
FBI News Release

Emergency Preparedness

Progress on communications system to allow county's emergency workers to talk to each other
After years in limbo, what has been dubbed one of the most important emergency preparedness and homeland security projects in the state is about to take shape. A joint powers authority will receive bids in January for the initial phase of a pioneering communications system that would, for the first time, allow Los Angeles County's 34,000 first responders and 17,000 second responders to, basically, talk with each other.
Los Angeles Daily News

Public Safety

Los Angeles getting 53 new crosswalks
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Monday the addition of 53 crosswalks aimed at reducing the number of pedestrians hit by vehicles. The so-called continental crosswalks are painted with two-foot-wide yellow or white stripes and include a stop-line before the crosswalks to prevent motorists from encroaching on pedestrians' walking space. Villaraigosa spoke to reporters at the first continental crosswalk installed at Fifth and Spring streets, where he announced an educational campaign to accompany the rollout of the new crosswalks.
City News Service

Traffic deaths up in California, at six-decade low across U.S.
The number of people killed in traffic accidents last year dropped to its lowest point in more than six decades elsewhere in the nation but rose in California, according to new federal transportation figures. Across the country, deaths of cyclists and pedestrians surged in 2011, despite the overall downward trend in fatalities. According to the recently released report, 32,367 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents in 2011, a decrease of 1.9% from the year before and the lowest number since 1949.
Los Angeles Times

Group wants hands-free texting law killed
A national organization that focuses on roadway safety is calling on California lawmakers to repeal a new law that, beginning on Jan. 1, will allow drivers to text with hands-free devices. Some cell phones already come equipped with voice-command options that allow users to send and receive text messages without typing. But in 2009, California became one of the first states in the nation to ban texting while driving.
San Francisco Chronicle