Law Enforcement

Police ID suspect in Culver City pipe bomb arrest
Authorities say a police bomb squad has detonated 17 homemade explosive devices found in a Los Angeles apartment after a routine traffic stop revealed a potentially dangerous liquid in a man's car. Police say 29-year-old Robert Wilson was taken into custody and booked on felony possession of a destructive device. Authorities believe the man was acting alone, and said there were no apparent links to terrorism.
Southern California Public Radio

LAPD arrests 2 people for alleged car burglaries in Eagle Rock
Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested a young man and a teenaged boy in Eagle Rock Wednesday morning while they were allegedly checking parked vehicles with unlocked doors on a street north of Colorado Boulevard. The duo, aged 18 years and 16 years, confessed to stealing property from eight vehicles on streets north of Colorado over the past few weeks, including goods stolen from two cars Wednesday, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Nina Preciado told Eagle Rock Patch.
Eagle Rock Patch

Harbor Gateway triple-murder suspect released
A La Habra man arrested in a triple slaying in Harbor Gateway was released from jail without filing of charges, Los Angeles County jail records show. Narada Barrington Brooks, 28, was released from county jail at 5:50 p.m. Tuesday. "Our office is seeking further investigation. We did not file charges," said Jean Guccione, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. Brooks was arrested late Friday in the 900 block of North Euclid Street in La Habra on suspicion of murder. Police said he was believed to be the "sole individual responsible."
Torrance Daily Breeze

Sherman Oaks senior lead officer warns about things left on dashboard
The Senior Lead Officer for Sherman Oaks, Trent Berry, warned residents not to leave things on their dashboard. "You don't want to leave things in plain sight that will be attractive for people to break into your car," said the LAPD officer at a recent Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council meeting. People are now leaving their cellphone or GPS devices on the windshield or leaving large bags or purses in the front seat, and then people break the windows to get into the car, Berry said.
Sherman Oaks Patch

Detroit's new Police Chief James Craig: 'I've come home'
Detroit's new police chief said he is committed to making the Police Department a “premier” agency. At a news conference Wednesday, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr introduced James Craig, who is leaving his job as police chief in Cincinnati to take the helm in Detroit. “I've come home,” said Craig, who began his career in 1977 with the Detroit Police Department before moving on to spend 28 years at the Los Angeles Police Department and then to serve as chief in Portland, Maine, and Cincinnati.
Detroit Free Press

Immigration

Border patrol report scrutinizes widely touted initiative
A widely touted Border Patrol initiative to send migrants back to Mexico far from the points they are caught entering the U.S. illegally has one of the worst track records at discouraging people from trying again, according to a new study that offers a detailed assessment of how the agency's new enforcement strategies are working. The aim of the so-called lateral repatriations is to make it more difficult for migrants to reconnect with smugglers. The Congressional Research Service, drawing on previously unpublished Border Patrol data, found those migrants were among the most likely to get caught again.
Associated Press

Legislation

Senate considers: If no one's behind the wheel, who's driving?
Cars that steer themselves through bumper-to-bumper traffic will hit the market by the end of this year, and self-parking vehicles aren't far behind. Fully autonomous models that don't need human drivers at all are less than a decade from dealerships. But laws lag behind the rise of the robo-car. Only three states - Nevada, California and Florida - have authorized testing of driverless cars on their roadways and started drafting up-to-date regulations.
McClatchy DC

Prisons

Governor proposes a prisoner swap
Gov. Jerry Brown quietly rolled out tweaks to his prison realignment plan in Monday's budget proposal. In addition to offering counties $72 million more to handle local felons, the governor proposes a prisoner swap, trading long-term inmates that jails are ill-prepared to handle in return for short-term felons the state would just as soon not have to hold. Given California's prison crowding problems and federal orders to reduce those numbers further, the plan would be "inmate neutral," state budget officials said.
Los Angeles Times

California prisons showdown: Inmates' lawyers seek contempt finding against governor
Gov. Jerry Brown and his top state prison official are about to find out how mad they've made the three federal judges overseeing California's overcrowded prison system. In court papers filed Wednesday, lawyers for prison inmates asked the special three-judge panel to find Brown and Jeffrey Beard, the state's corrections chief, in contempt for failing to comply with orders requiring the administration to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for reducing the prison population.
San Jose Mercury News

City Government

L.A.'s $7.7 billion city budget advances
With only minor changes, a City Council committee on Wednesday recommended approval of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed $7.7 billion budget for the coming year. The main exception to the City Council Budget and Finance Committee recommendation was a proposal to delay plans to consolidate the city's Planning and Building and Safety departments. The mayor has proposed the consolidation to help speed development in Los Angeles, but committee members felt they needed more time to study the plan before rushing it to take effect on July1.
Los Angeles Daily News

LA budget officials don't know how much money may be hidden in city departments
The recent discovery of an extra $43 million in the Department of Transportation's budget shows just how little Los Angeles city leaders know about so-called "special funds," the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee said Wednesday. There are between 600 and 700 special revenue funds on the City of L.A.'s books. These funds hold money from grants and taxes that are set aside for specific projects.
Southern California Public Radio