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.
Los Angeles Times

Sheriff's dispatcher's performance during Big Bear shootout
As our thoughts and prayers are now offered to families and friends of those whose lives were taken so suddenly, we also want to thank the unsung Sheriff's dispatcher whose actions lessened the death toll and helped scores of officers and deputies in harm's way during the shootout in Big Bear. Listening to the police radio traffic of the Big Bear shootout, you hear, "pop, pop, pop. pop, pop." There are too many shots to count. Several minutes into the radio traffic, you can hear, the female dispatcher broadcast, "Shots fired. Officer down."
LAPPL Blog

Mayor, chief say they hope to pay out Dorner award
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police Chief Charlie Beck say they hope someone can claim the $1 million reward offered for information leading to the capture of Christopher Dorner, the ex-cop and suspected quadruple killer who died after a mountain shootout this week. But the mayor and chief said in a joint statement Thursday that more than 20 jurisdictions and entities are involved, and any decision on the reward will have to go through all of them.
Associated Press

Tim Rutten: Today's LAPD doesn't deserve Dorner-centered delusions
Fantastical or not, the willingness of LAPD to revisit allegations that clearly have disturbed its relationship with parts of the community speaks volumes about the character and commitment of its current leadership. A thorough and comprehensive report on Dorner's allegations will be another landmark in the story of the reformed LAPD's commitment to transparency and accountability as essential pillars of constitutional policing.
Los Angeles News Group

Gang member gets life sentence in LA deputy murder
A gang member has been convicted of murdering an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy as he prepared to go to work nearly five years ago. Jurors on Thursday found 22-year-old Jose Renteria guilty of the first-degree murder of Deputy Juan Abel Escalante. The panel also found Renteria guilty of the attempted murder of another man in 2007. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 4 and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Associated Press

Westlake district hit-run suspect sought
The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking a suspect in a hit-and-run collision that left a man critically injured in the Westlake district of Los Angeles Friday. The incident occurred as Francisco Perez, 31, was crossing the street outside a crosswalk at the intersection of Westlake Avenue and Eighth Street at 12:05 a.m. Authorities said Perez was struck by a silver minivan. The male driver reportedly fled the scene. Perez was transported to County-USC Medical Center where he remains under critical condition.
ABC7

Oregon police arrest woman in connection with Woodland Hills murder of her mother
Oregon state police have arrested a 24-year-old Los Angeles woman in connection with the murder of her mother in Woodland Hills, Oregon authorities said Saturday. Oregon State troopers placed Laura Purviance into custody about 4 a.m. Friday at the Valley of the Rogue rest area along Interstate 5, about 13 miles north of Medford, according to Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings.
City News Service

City Election

L.A. mayoral candidates asked for solutions to police overtime 'banking'
The size of the police force isn't the only law enforcement controversy facing L.A. mayoral candidates. Police officers' banking of overtime, a far less headline-grabbing issue, also awaits Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's successor. The next mayor will inherit an $85 million bill in police overtime, according to the City Administrative Office's latest figures. That tab was created by deferring costs of police overtime to a "bank."
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. Police Protective League launches TV spot for Wendy Greuel
Another City Hall union is now running ads on behalf of Wendy Greuel's campaign for L.A. mayor. The L.A. Police Protective League started airing its ad this weekend. It comes about a week after Working Californians, the IBEW-funded independent group, started running its own Greuel spot. So far, independent groups have spent $1.2 million backing Greuel's campaign -- far more support than any other candidate has received.
LA Weekly