Law Enforcement

LAPD: June sees an uptick in shootings in South LA
Police in South L.A. were on alert this weekend after five people were shot Friday and two more on Saturday. The violence comes as LAPD's South Bureau reported an increase in homicides and shootings. LAPD's South Bureau has recorded eight homicides from May 30 to June 15. The area includes the 77th Street, Harbor, Southeast, and Southwest community police stations. No one was killed in Friday's shootings and police believe at least one of the incidents could be gang related.
Southern California Public Radio

Police searching for LAUSD teacher who allegedly killed his estranged wife in West Hills
Homicide detectives were searching Sunday for a veteran Los Angeles Unified School District educator who allegedly stabbed his estranged wife multiple times Saturday morning outside of a West Hills home of friends where she had sought refuge, authorities said. Michelle Ann Kane, 43, of West Hills was slain one day after she visited the LAPD's Topanga station and reported that her husband, Michael Rodney Kane, from whom she was separated, had violated a restraining order, said Lt. Warren Jones, acting commanding officer of the Topanga Detective Division.
Los Angeles Daily News

Man in Northridge standoff arrested in girlfriend's slaying
A man involved in a Friday morning standoff with police in a Northridge home after allegedly shooting his girlfriend to death was arrested on suspicion of murder, police said. The man, who has not been identified, was arrested after the standoff, during which he appeared to have shot himself in the face, said Los Angeles police Lt. Andy Neiman. He was in stable condition at a hospital, Neiman said. Police rushed to the neighborhood near Kenya Street and Baton Rouge Avenue just south of the 118 Freeway about 12:30 a.m. after residents reported a stabbing and a shooting.
Los Angeles Times

Man fatally stabbed in Pacoima
Los Angeles Police Department officers on Sunday were investigating a fatal stabbing in Pacoima of a 32-year-old man who was transported to a local hospital by relatives, authorities said. Officers from the department's Foothill Division were dispatched to Holy Cross Medical Center to investigate the stabbing death of the man, who officers had not identified Sunday pending notification of next of kin.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD purchases 188 Dodge, Ford Patrol vehicles
The Los Angeles Police Department has ended its patrol-car purchasing drought, adding 188 new 2013 model-year patrol vehicles from Chrysler and the Ford Motor Company. Earlier this year, the LAPD ordered 100 Dodge Charger Pursuit patrol cars, 50 Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles, and 38 Ford P.I. sedans. For the first time in four years, the city provided the agency funding to purchase new vehicles. The $6.5 million in funding came from the fiscal year ending June 30.
Police Magazine

Public invited to LAPD Senior Lead Officers Summit
The Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division will hold its Senior Lead Officers Summit next month at the Greek Theatre. The summit is open to the public and will provide local residents the opportunity to meet area senior lead officers as well as 9-1-1 operators and find out the local division's goals for this year, according to LAPD Sergeant Ruben Arellano. There will also be presentations from the bomb squad and the PAL Box. The summit will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, at the Greek Theatre located at 2700 North Vermont Ave.
Echo Park - Silverlake Patch

LAPD Northeast gets new patrol captain
Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Jennifer Thomas has been with the LAPD for the past 18 and a half years in a variety of assignments, including in gang units and as an investigator in the Asian Crime division. Thomas begins a new assignment Sunday as the head of the patrol unit in the Northeast. She replaces Capt. Joseph Hiltner, a veteran officer who recently retired, about nine months after he was removed from the Foothill Division for allegedly failing to act against officers accused of using excessive force during a videotaped arrest.
Highland Park - Mount Washington Patch

Ballot Initiative

Death penalty supporters gear up
Frustrated by a recent appeals court ruling that invalidates the state's lethal injection procedures, supporters of the death penalty in California plan to launch a campaign to bring the suspended system back to life. Death penalty supporters hope to circumvent legal challenges to executions through a new initiative that would put in place a single-drug injection procedure for inmates condemned to death, such as the infamous Night Stalker serial killer Richard Ramirez, who died June 7 of natural causes.
Torrance Daily Breeze

City Government

Garcetti to closely scrutinize DWP, fire, technology departments
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti on Friday called out three key areas of city operations that will get close scrutiny after he takes office July 1, saying each may need changes either in management or operations. Garcetti cited the Department of Water and Power, the Fire Department and the city's disparate information technology units as being high on his list for review, starting with potential changes at the top.
Los Angeles Times