Law Enforcement

Mercedes involved in fatal hit and run on Crenshaw Blvd. is found
A vehicle involved in a deadly hit and run in Hyde Park has been found, Los Angeles police said Monday. Detectives had been searching for the newer-model silver Mercedes-Benz since police said it struck 18-year-old Markeis Vonreece Parish as he crossed Crenshaw Boulevard near 78th Street at about 6:15 p.m. Saturday. The vehicle continued on without stopping, according to police. Police are asking anyone with information to contact South Traffic division detectives at (323) 421-2500 or (323) 421-2540.
Los Angeles Times

Downtown streets reopen after briefcase declared not to be bomb
Downtown L.A. streets closed during Monday's commute were reopened after police declared safe an unattended briefcase found outside City Hall. Authorities were called to the scene just after 7 a.m., when the case was spotted on a park bench on the south lawn of City Hall, Los Angeles police Officer Wendy Reyes said. Several area streets were blocked outside City Hall, Grand Park and the LAPD's headquarters were blocked by police tape, delaying drivers during the morning commute.
Los Angeles Times

Kanye West's airport fight probed by elite LAPD investigation squad
Rapper Kanye West may like to be the focus of attention, but LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division is probably not what he had in mind. The elite Los Angeles police division that investigates high profile murders, robberies and sexual assaults is now handling the probe in an altercation between Kanye West and a photographer last Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, said Cmdr. Andy Smith.
Los Angeles Times

In Hollywood, tourists see the good, bad and seedy
The area around the intersection of Hollywood and Highland is revitalized but still has rough edges. The tourist magnet continues to draw fans and detractors.
Los Angeles Times

West Sacramento gets new top cop
West Sacramento's new police chief was sworn into office last week. Chief Thomas McDonald replaces outgoing department head Dan Drummond, who retired after nine years. McDonald was raised as the son of a U.S. Air Force officer, living in different places including Europe. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1983, reports West Sacramento Police Department spokesman. With the LAPD, he served on various assignments as he rose to the rank of captain.
West Sacramento News-Ledger

Cybercrime costs U.S. economy up to $140 billion annually, report says
Cyberattacks may be draining as much as $140 billion and half a million jobs from the U.S. economy each year, according to a new study that splashes water on a previous estimate of $1 trillion in annual losses. The center completed the study with the help from cybersecurity giant McAfee and came up with the new figures by relying on models, such as those used to estimate the economic effects of car crashes and ocean piracy, instead of surveys of companies.
Los Angeles Times

Prisons

California board teams with non-partisan research group to measure realignments' effects
The state board in charge of tracking the effects of California's criminal justice realignment voted Monday to partner with the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California to get the job done. The two-year old realignment law diverted tens of thousands of criminals from prisons by making certain felony crimes punishable by jail sentences. It also put counties in charge of monitoring lower-level felons coming out of prison - and sanctioning ex-convicts who violate parole.
Southern California Public Radio

Realignment targets adults, but youth system also in flux
While public attention has focused in recent years on startling changes in California's prison system, the transformation of the youth correctional system has been even more dramatic. California, which just a few years ago had 11 state juvenile prisons, now has three. The number of youth offenders sent to state lockups has dropped by 90 percent during the past two decades, from down from about 10,000 in 1996 to less than 800 today.
Capitol Weekly

California prison officials deny media access to hunger strikers
Roughly 1,000 inmates in California's prisons were still on a hunger strike Sunday to protest long-term isolation of inmates believed to have ties to prison gangs. The mass protest, which is in its third week, has drawn international attention, but prison officials won't allow reporters in to cover the strike. California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation denied KPCC's request to tour any of the four Security Housing Units in the state, where inmates spend up to 22 hours a day in their cells.
Southern California Public Radio

City Government

Voters in L.A.'s Council District 6 go to polls to fill Cardenas seat
Voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide which of two candidates running for an open eastern San Fernando Valley council seat will become the only woman to hold elective office at Los Angeles City Hall. Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday in the special election between Nury Martinez, 40, a former Los Angeles school board member, and Cindy Montañez, 39, a Department of Water and Power executive and former state legislator, in Council District 6.
Los Angeles Times