Law Enforcement

Report says Walk of Fame stabbing death preventable, blames probation department failures
A woman's fatal stabbing on Hollywood's Walk of Fame may have been prevented if there had not been several systemic failures in the Los Angeles County Probation Department, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. The 26-page report released in response to a public records request detailed multiple communication breakdowns between county agencies and law enforcement along with the Probation Department's inadequate detention policies and lack of staff training.
Associated Press

Suspect shoots, kills himself in Winnetka apartment after motorcycle chase with LAPD
A parolee who led police on a motorcycle chase through the San Fernando Valley apparently shot and killed himself Thursday night inside a Winnetka apartment as K-9 officers were entering, police said. The man had fled on a motorcycle as officers were checking on a possible parole violation in Van Nuys in the 14600 block of Burbank Boulevard shortly after 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Daily News

Vanessa Acosta convicted of assault on LAPD officers
Vanessa Acosta was convicted Thursday by plea of two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm on Los Angeles police officers, and one count of felon in Possession of a Firearm, according to the District Attorney's Office. She will receive a sentence of 30 years in prison. On October 17, 2012, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a car in which Acosta was the passenger.
LAPPL News Release

Police looking for man who robbed Granada Hills Taco Bell
Police are seeking the public's help to find a man suspected of robbing a Taco Bell in Granada Hills July 31. The man walked into the fast-food restaurant at 11101 Woodley Ave. around 9:30 p.m., as shown in a surveillance video. He chatted with the clerk and asked for directions before handing him a note demanding money and showing a handgun in his waistband. The clerk gave him money from the cash register and the man left on foot.
Los Angeles Daily News

Suspect identified in Miss Teen USA 'sextortion' case
Federal officials on Thursday said they have identified an individual believed to be involved in an alleged "sextortion" case involving newly crowned Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf from Orange County. More than a dozen other women had also been identified as victims in the case, but Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, said agents believe the alleged activity "has been discontinued."
Los Angeles Times

Former L.A. County undersheriff to run against Sheriff Lee Baca
Paul Tanaka, a former Los Angeles County undersheriff who was ousted by Sheriff Lee Baca earlier this year, announced Thursday that he's challenging his former boss. "I have decided to declare my candidacy for sheriff of Los Angeles County because the community members are long overdue for a new direction from their sheriff," Tanaka said, flanked by current and former department supervisors at a news conference on a hilltop helicopter pad in Griffith Park.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

Calif Senate votes to end loophole in old rape law
The state Senate unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that would close a loophole in California law that resulted in a rape conviction being overturned because the woman was not married. The 2nd District Court of Appeal in January reversed the conviction of Julio Morales for impersonating the boyfriend of the woman. The court ruled that a state law dating to the 1870s specifies that assailants are guilty in such cases only if a woman is married and the perpetrator is pretending to be the spouse.
Associated Press

California 'revenge porn' bill passes Senate
The practice of posting or disseminating lascivious images and footage without someone's consent is apparently a serious enough problem that the California Senate has passed a bill penalizing its perpetrators. The legislation, authored by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, and backed by organizations like the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and the California Sheriffs' Association, makes revenge porn a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or jail time. Cannella floated Senate Bill 255 after being approached by a constituent dismayed that an ex had shared photos that "were intimate in nature."
Sacramento Bee

City Government

DWP workers earned $77.3 million in extra pay in first half of 2013
In the first six months of this year, Department of Water & Power employees earned $77.3 million in extra pay for such things as overtime, laying cement or working in bad weather, according to an analysis released Thursday by Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin. Those extra earnings, if paid at the same rate through the year's end, would total $155 million, or an average of roughly $15,800 in extra wages for each DWP worker, Galperin said.
Los Angeles Times

Garcetti shakes up panel overseeing LAFD
Mayor Eric Garcetti continued his shake-up of city government Thursday, replacing four of the five members on the civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Fire Department, an agency Garcetti has identified as needing significant reform. One of the departing commissioners will be shifted to a new role as special advisor to the mayor, an unpaid position charged with guiding the ongoing overhaul of the department's ailing dispatch network and computer
systems.
Los Angeles Times