Law Enforcement

Review: Firing of Ex-LAPD Officer Dorner justified
An internal review by the Los Angeles Police Department concluded that rogue ex-officer Christopher Dorner was justifiably fired, a lawyer who reviewed the findings told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Civil rights attorney Connie Rice said the lengthy examination found no basis for allegations of racism and bias that Dorner made in a manifesto vowing revenge on his former colleagues and their families.
Associated Press

Man in custody following report of gunman at North Hills VA clinic
One person was in custody Tuesday in connection with a report of a gunman at a Veterans Affairs clinic in North Hills, L.A. police said. LAPD spokesman Bruce Borihahn said it was not clear if the person in custody was the same individual that a patient reported seeing with a gun about 8:42 a.m. Part of the clinic at 16111 Plummer St. was evacuated, police said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD uses Vigilant Solutions license plate recognition data to locate suspect in rape/sodomy/beating case
Vigilant Solutions announces today that its license plate recognition (LPR) data and investigative tools were used by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to locate a suspect in a violent rape/sodomy/beating case. Detective Patricia Batts of LAPD comments, "We used Vigilant's LPR data to track the vehicle of a suspect wanted in a rape/sodomy/beating case. Using historical sightings of the vehicle in the Vigilant system, we were able to identify a probable location for the suspect – an apartment complex in Las Vegas. The U.S. Marshals were able to locate the suspect at the complex and he was taken into custody. Had it not been for this data, collected and shared by Vigilant, who knows how long it would have been before the suspect was captured and how many more victims would have been hurt."
Vigilant Solutions News Release

Police seek midnight bandit in 58 gas station robberies
Sheriff's detectives asked for the public's help Monday in identifying a suspect who has targeted nearly five dozen gas stations and convenience stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties since April 2012. The "Midnight Bandit'' typically approaches lone gas station clerks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., armed with a handgun, and takes money from the cash register, said Nicole Nishida of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
City News Service

LAPD officer in the running for national award
LAPD Officer Deon Joseph, 40, of Los Angeles, has been nominated for Crown Royal's "Your Hero's Name Here" program, which awards one hero naming rights to one of the summer's biggest NASCAR races - the Brickyard 400. He has spent the past 14 serving as a liaison between the LAPD and Skid Row. Joseph has assisted over 150 homeless citizens and has launched a hygiene initiative to help aide those still on the streets.
KTLA

Violent crime up in many Bay Area cities, FBI report shows
Violent crime in the Bay Area, from Daly City to San Jose to Oakland, rose in 2012, an about-face from previous years in which crime dropped, according to FBI figures released this week. The largest spikes occurred in Antioch, Santa Clara and Oakland, and only four of the region's 15 big cities -- Concord, Fremont, Santa Rosa and Vallejo -- were immune from overall escalating numbers in murder, rapes, robbery and aggravated assaults, FBI data shows.
San Jose Mercury News

City Government

LAFD audit criticizes investigations of top officials
The Los Angeles Fire Department has failed to properly investigate misconduct allegations against the fire chief, top union officials and members of an elite unit that delves into charges involving rank-and-file firefighters, according to an audit presented to the city Fire Commission Tuesday. The report by the agency's top watchdog concluded that the process of probing such sensitive cases is underfunded, poorly run and plagued by sloppy record keeping and incomplete fieldwork.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. official recommends AEG to run the Convention Center
The top budget official at Los Angeles City Hall recommended Tuesday that Anschutz Entertainment Group run the city's Convention Center, despite objections from one of the facility's employee unions. In a one-paragraph memo to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said AEG -- one of two companies that had sought to manage the facility -- had submitted a cost-effective proposal that would deliver a "unique experience" to convention center visitors.
Los Angeles Times