Law Enforcement

Groups call for halt to impounding of unlicensed drivers' cars
A 2011 state law prohibits police agencies in California from freely impounding cars from sober but unlicensed drivers who are stopped at drunk-driving checkpoints. Police are now required to give the person who has been pulled over a chance to contact a licensed driver to take the car. Similar policy changes at the Los Angeles Police Department shortened the amount of time cars must be kept in impound lots if a licensed driver cannot be located. The changes drew lawsuits from a national group claiming the policy is unfair to taxpayers as well as the police officers union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League. The number of vehicles impounded by the LAPD have fallen dramatically since the new rules were put in place.
Los Angeles Times

Venice boardwalk suspect was familiar sight at Malibu day-labor center
A contradictory picture has emerged of Nathan Louis Campbell, the man accused of mowing down pedestrians on the Venice boardwalk Saturday, with stunned friends saying his demeanor and history gave no indication of a violent personality.Despite numerous run-ins with police going back a decade, many who know the 38-year-old Campbell describe him as a nice, helpful guy, who never seemed prone to violence.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD Pacific Division celebrates National Night Out in Mar Vista
The LAPD Pacific Division's National Night Out event on Tuesday night took place at the Mar Vista Rec. Center. Residents flocked to meet the local boys in blue, who joined locals in a softball game, held a flag ceremony and handed out free hotdogs, pizza and drinks. Tuesday night's event had both the old and new official guard on hand, with newly-minted CD 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin rubbing shoulders with former Councilmember Bill Rosendahl.
Venice - MarVista Patch

Amber Alert murder, kidnap suspect believed heading to Canada
The man who allegedly kidnapped a San Diego County girl after killing her mother and brother may be headed toward the Canadian border, authorities said. An Amber Alert for James Lee DiMaggio and his blue Nissan Versa was extended from California to Oregon and Washington late Wednesday afternoon. "The suspect is now believed to be possibly traveling to Canada," according to the Washington alert.
Los Angeles Times

FBI reopens 1964 kidnapping case after DNA testing
The FBI said Wednesday it is reopening its investigation into the 1964 kidnapping of a newborn boy from a Chicago hospital, after recent DNA testing revealed that a boy found in New Jersey more than a year later and returned to the elated parents wasn't actually their son. Paul Fronczak, 49, is a married father of his own now and works as a college administrator and living in Henderson, Nev.
Associated Press

Prisons

State Prisons: Senate leaders call for spending to avert releases
The state Senate's top Democrat said lawmakers need to be ready to spend potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent the court-ordered release of thousands of prison inmates. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters that a federal three-judge panel put public safety at risk by ordering the state to release more than 9,000 inmates by year's end to reduce overcrowding. The U.S. Supreme Court last week denied the Brown administration's motion to stay a lower court ruling and the governor is appealing.
Riverside Press-Enterprise

California prisons could free 1,000 to ease crowding
Under court orders to ease prison crowding by the end of the year, California officials are scrambling to relocate 9,600 inmates but may be forced to free roughly 1,000 of them before they have completed their sentences. Officials say most offenders are likely to remain locked up, in privately owned prisons, county jails and other facilities. But some low-level criminals, as well as seriously ill and elderly inmates, could be released, state plans show.
Los Angeles Times

California prison hunger strike moves into fifth week
As hundreds of California prisoners continue a hunger strike, medical staffers are struggling to keep tabs on the protest's toll. The medical receiver's office, a court-appointed agency that runs prison healthcare services, reports that 31 inmates on the hunger strike have lost more than 10% of their body weight in the past month, with five of those losing more than 15% of their weight. But 57 hunger strikers refuse to be weighed. Agency spokeswoman Joyce Hayhow said reasons for the refusals vary.
Los Angeles Times

Transit

Legal dispute prompts feds to withhold $2 billion for transit
The federal government is withholding about $2 billion from transit agencies across California, including $268 million earmarked for bus, rail and street projects at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The money has been held back since December because the U.S. Department of Labor contends that a new state pension law violates the Federal Transit Act in the way it treats unionized workers of transportation agencies.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. officials weigh plan to require bright-colored BB guns
Prompted by a pair of officer-involved shootings three years ago, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday sought a new city law that would require BB guns, pellet guns and air rifles to be painted a bright color to differentiate them from real weapons. However, Councilman Bernard Parks questioned if the measure would offer a false sense of security to officers and instead perhaps put their lives at risk.
Los Angeles Daily News