Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Arlington Heights and 5 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in six L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Arlington Heights was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 2.0 over the last three months. Harbor City was the lone neighborhood with a property-crime alert. It recorded 15 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 9.3 over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

LA leads nation in hit/run collisions, councilman says
Los Angeles leads the nation in hit-and-run vehicle collisions, and two Los Angeles City Council members are vowing to do something about it. After hitting pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles or other vehicles, as many as 20,000 LA motorists flee the scene each year, Councilman Joe Buscaino said in a motion before the government body's public safety committee. About 4,000 of the people hit in those collisions are injured or killed, the Harbor area councilman said. In his motion, filed Jan. 4, Buscaino asked the Los Angeles Police Department to detail its efforts to cut down on hit-and-run incidents.
NBC4

LAPD asks for help to find missing woman
Family members and Los Angeles police are searching for a 49-year-old woman who went missing nearly a week ago. Police said Marta Michel was last seen waiting for a bus last Saturday at 4th Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Coworkers said they saw her waiting at the stop after her night shift. The missing woman's loved ones fear that she may have been kidnapped. They said she doesn't have a cellphone and was not carrying identification. "What if somebody took her and still has her? That's what we believe, because she wouldn't leave," said Michel's young daughter, Diana.
ABC7

'Just looking for sane policy' on unlicensed drivers
Don Rosenberg, whose son was killed by an unlicensed driver, argues for tougher enforcement. But it's an uphill fight in Los Angeles. A national study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that unlicensed drivers are much more likely to leave the scene of an accident. And the California Department of Motor Vehicles recently reported that unlicensed drivers are three times as likely to cause a fatal crash as licensed drivers. That's bad news in a state with an estimated 2 million unlicensed drivers, many of them ineligible for licenses because they're here illegally.
Los Angeles Times

In LAPD tradition, daughter follows dad's path to the badge
Sometime next year, LAPD Detective Tom Barnhart plans to go back to a patrol car for a shift. His partner for the day will be his daughter, Sam. Sam Barnhart, who wasn't even born when her dad became a police officer, walked the stage Friday at the Los Angeles Police Academy, becoming one of the city's 40 newest officers. The 23-year-old joins a long tradition of LAPD as family. Looking around after the ceremony, Tom Barnhart said four graduates had family members on the force, two retired and two still active.
Los Angeles Daily News

San Jose officials propose temporary pay boost to keep cops
Two top San Jose officials are proposing the city consider short-term bonuses to keep cops on the force in an acknowledgment that police pay and benefit cuts have spurred a worrisome officer exodus even as the city sees a surge in crime. Councilmen Sam Liccardo, a former prosecutor, and Pete Constant, a former city officer, suggested one possibility would be a one-time, 8 percent retention bonus, with the estimated $7.5 million cost perhaps paid out of salary savings from officers who already have left.
San Jose Mercury News

LAPD teams with animal group on pet calendar
They already 'protect and serve' - and now the LAPD has teamed up with Voice for the Animals Foundation, to help rescue pets in need. Together the groups have created a new calendar full of photos of LAPD officers and their pets. KTLA 5s Lu Parker - creator of The Lu Parker Project to aid homeless animals - sits down with representatives of the joint calendar effort, all in the name of rescue pets.
KTLA

Prisons

Prison reform's unintended consequences
The prison reform law that shifted responsibility for non-violent felons from the state to the counties is also affecting the management of more serious and violent offenders who have completed their prison terms, presenting a challenge for reform supporters and potentially undermining public support for the change. Since the passage of Assembly Bill 109, also known as prison realignment, people who violate the conditions of their parole go to jail rather than prison - including those with sex offenses and other serious and violent crimes on their records.
HealthyCal.org

City Elections 2013

An early start to March 5 city election
For an increasing number of Angelenos, election day actually begins next week. Starting on Feb. 4, the City Clerk's Office will begin sending out ballots for the March 5 election to those folks who have registered to be permanent absentee voters. In the last mayoral primary, the vote-by-mail votes were nearly 38 percent of the ballots cast. In this election, it could be as high as 50 percent of the turnout, which is predicted to be 25 to 30 percent of the 1.7 million registered voters.
Los Angeles Daily News

Elections will bring a big shake-up on L.A. City Council
Voters across Los Angeles are poised to engineer the biggest shake-up on the City Council in a dozen years, sending seven newcomers into office in a series of contests that will unfold between March and July. Although the mayoral campaign has grabbed most of the attention this election year, with millions raised by the five leading candidates, the stakes are just as high for the city's powerful 15-member legislative body.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. city election fundraising tops $18M
With the city elections heading into the final six weeks, the campaigns reported this week that donations have topped the $18 million mark and early spending has exceeded $10 million - with more to come. As the March 5 election nears, the candidates are expected to step up their spending for television and mail ads to try to drive up voter interest and win support as they seek either to win outright, with a majority of the vote, or secure a spot in the May 21 runoff. The biggest race is for mayor, where a total $11.2 million has been raised and more than $5.7 million spent so far.
Los Angeles Daily News