Public Safety

A dangerous public safety experiment
We agree with the Los Angeles firefighters who have voiced huge concern over Fire Chief Brian Cummings' experiment to prop up response time by adding 11 ambulances to the Los Angeles Fire Department service by taking firefighters off of firetrucks. What the Chief is not telling the public is that with fire season just starting his Band-Aid solution calls for taking 66 firefighters city wide off of fire trucks in an effort to add more ambulances. Moreover, this will negatively affect the fire department's response with the appropriate personnel to the more common emergencies, like serious car accidents on our streets and freeways, many of which require LAFD to extract victims.
LAPPL Blog

Law Enforcement

LAPD will investigate officers involved in USC party clash
Los Angeles police said they have opened an internal investigation into the police response at an off-campus house party near USC after several people made formal complaints alleging racial bias and use of heavy-handed tactics. Department officials told The Times that in response to the complaints they would fully examine the LAPD response including interviews with party-goers, officers and other witnesses as well as a review of video taken of the incident.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. collects more than 1,100 firearms in weekend gun buyback event
The weekend's gun buyback program resulted in more than 1,100 firearms being turned in, bringing to 11,151 the total number of weapons turned in during the eight years it has been operated under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Villaraigosa praised the public response to the program, funded this year with $250,000 from the city's general fund, as the mayor lamented the lack of action by Congress in toughening the nation's gun laws.
Los Angeles Daily News

Civil rights groups sue LAPD over automatic license plate readers
Civil rights groups sued the LAPD and the Sheriff's Department today over both agencies' alleged failure to produce records related to the use of automatic license plate readers. According to the lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department refuse to provide requested information on policy and training, as well as a week's worth of ALPR data collected by the agencies last year.
Los Angeles Daily News

Pa. cop killed in crash with unlicensed driver
A Shenango Township (Pa.) Police officer was killed Thursday night, when an unlicensed driver sideswiped the police cruiser during a pursuit. Officer William J. McCarthy and his partner, Officer Michael Lynch, were attempting to get in front of a vehicle driven by Kylee Barletto, 27, to get far enough ahead to lay spike strips or create a roadblock when she sideswiped their police cruiser. The officers had joined a pursuit initiated by the New Castle Police Department, who attempted to pull over Barletto's Pontiac Sunbird at 10 p.m.
Police Magazine

Peace officers honor fallen comrades
A white dove takes flight after the name of a fallen officer is read during the 37th Annual Peace Officers' Memorial Ceremony in Sacramento, Calif. on Monday. Twelve law enforcement officers were honored, two of which died last year. Thousands of law enforcement officers from different jurisdictions throughout California unite at the State Capitol to honor and memorialize two California peace officers who died in the line of duty.
Photos/Sacramento Bee

Homeland Security

FBI: Raid of Minn. home disrupted planned terror attack; police say suspect has militia ties
FBI officials said Monday that they foiled a terrorism attack that was being planned in a small western Minnesota town, but they offered no details about the exact targets of the attack - or the motive of the man accused of having a cache of explosives and weapons in a mobile home. The FBI said "the lives of several local residents were potentially saved" with the arrest of Buford Rogers, 24, who made his first appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Associated Press

City Government

L.A. city employees urge leaders to go after uncollected fees, taxes to balance $7.7B budget
Los Angeles city employees urged city leaders Monday to use $21 million from a "hidden" fund to balance the city budget instead of doing it on the backs of workers. Testifying before the city council's Budget & Finance Committee today, members of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions also called on council members to go after uncollected fees and taxes and to eliminate other "inefficiencies."
City News Service

City Election

No impact on L.A. pot measures seen with high court ruling
The state Supreme Court's decision on Monday to uphold the right of cities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries is not expected to impact proposals on the May 21 Los Angeles ballot to allow the facilities to open in certain areas. In a case stemming from Riverside's ban on all medical marijuana clinics by declaring them a public nuisance, the state high court said it was an authority that rested with local government with its land-use laws.
City News Service