Law Enforcement

LAPD's Cadet Program provides leadership opportunities to Boyle Heights youth
Gavriela Ocampo joined the Hollenbeck police station's Cadet Program at 14 because her mother thought she spent too much time with the wrong crowd. This year, Ocampo, now17 and a commander, had the honor of reviewing more than 100 student cadets during a graduation ceremony at the Hollenbeck station. The graduates, dressed in navy shorts and white shirts, filed in single file into the small community room in the station as Ocampo shouted out directions.
Boyle Heights Beat

LA Council extends $50,000 reward for info leading to capture of law enforcement imposters
A six-month extension of a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of two suspects who gunned down a man in San Pedro while posing as law enforcement officers has been approved by the Los Angeles City Council. The vote was unanimous 11-0 to extend the reward offer, which stems from the May 31, 2011 murder of 28-year old Amado Lozano. On that date, the suspects entered the victim's apartment in the 2600 block of South Alma Street at 10:30 a.m. and shot him multiple times, according to Los Angeles police.
CBS LA

2 drive-by shootings interrupt peace in Watts
Two drive-by shootings Monday night in Watts left two men dead and a community busy trying to maintain the long peace residents enjoyed before summer began. Before the summer began, there hadn't been any homicides in the Watts public housing developments of Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts in nearly two years. The area has always suffered from gang violence, but in recent years Los Angeles police began working with community leaders, gang intervention workers and the gangs themselves to resolve differences.
Southern California Public Radio

Counterfeiters along Venice Boardwalk targeted by LAPD
Los Angeles police are cracking down on counterfeiters working on the busy Venice Boardwalk. Police investigators swept through the tourist-heavy area and raided several stores. Officers say the prime targets were venders selling bogus electronics including cellphones and bootleg videos. Three people, two men and a woman, were taken into custody. They face charges of video piracy and copyright infringement.
ABC7

Three arrested after Canoga Park car chase
Three suspects were arrested in Canoga Park Tuesday afternoon after leading police on a brief car chase in a stolen pickup truck and then a foot pursuit that closed the neighborhood to traffic for several hours. A motorcycle officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division attempted to pull over the pickup for a traffic violation just before 9 a.m. The driver at first failed to stop, then stopped abruptly, attempting to injure the officer, according to Sgt. John Ficken.
Los Angeles Daily News

Steve Soboroff, citizens' voice on the LAPD
Steve Soboroff has rounded the bases in L.A. government, from the Harbor Commission to rec and parks, even a run for mayor. He's "Uncle Steve," the booster who practically drove the Endeavour space shuttle to its new home, a businessman who drove the Playa Vista development, chairman of the Weingart Foundation, a Big Brother. Now he's the top man at the L.A. Police Commission, perhaps the most scrutinized of city panels, "the citizens' voice" on policing matters, as its website pledges, tasked to work with and sometimes stand up to the LAPD.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek identities of 2 Harbor Area cellphone thieves
In what might be considered a disappointing display of human nature captured on video, a young woman enticed by a forgotten cellphone in a Wilmington doughnut shop agonized for a few minutes before taking it and dashing out the door. Los Angeles police Detective Don Eldridge released the video - and another showing a man grabbing another iPhone off a store counter at a San Pedro clothing store - in the hope he can identify the thieves and arrest them.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Suicides by two Oakland police officers prompt calls for change
The city's already beleaguered police force now is reeling from two officer suicides in less than two months, prompting a push for more robust mental health services. Officer William "Billy" Burke, a 13-year department veteran, shot himself to death in a remote mountain location Friday, law enforcement sources said. On July 31, Officer Porter Weston, who joined the force in 2006, fatally shot himself in his car on an Oakland street. He was 28.
Oakland Tribune

New Laws

Jerry Brown signs paparazzi, earthquake-warning bills
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation backed by actress Halle Berry to restrict paparazzi access to children, his office announced Tuesday afternoon. Senate Bill 606, by Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, clarifies that misdemeanor harassment of a child based on parents' profession includes attempting to record the child's image or voice. The bill was opposed on First Amendment grounds by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Motion Picture Association of America and the California Broadcasters Association.
Sacramento Bee

Prisons & Jails

Judges extend deadline in California prison case
Federal judges agreed Tuesday to extend an end-of-year deadline for reducing California's prison population in hopes of finding a long-term solution to an overcrowding crisis. The ruling also granted at least a temporary victory to Gov. Jerry Brown on the issue. Brown had been fighting against an early release of inmates to comply with the federal court's order, saying it jeopardized public safety. The panel of three federal judges granted the delay until Jan. 27 but said all parties must meet with a separate judge, who will make recommendations to the panel by mid-October.
Associated Press

L.A. County will send 500 inmates to Taft lockup
Los Angeles County supervisors agreed Tuesday to a contract that officials say will ensure that the most serious county jail inmates serve their full terms. The $75-million, five-year agreement with the Taft Community Correctional Facility run by the city of Taft in Kern County, will allow the county to house approximately 500 long-term inmates at the lockup, freeing up beds in Los Angeles County jails so that other inmates will serve a greater portion of their sentences.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. City Council moves to clear Tujunga Wash homeless camps
Citing an imminent public safety threat, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to immediately begin posting no-trespassing signs in the Tujunga Wash to help clear out the area of homeless encampments. During a recent tour of the wash, Councilman Felipe Fuentes said he counted five 5-gallon jugs of gasoline and three generators among the encampments. Fuentes introduced an emergency measure, which received no advance public notice, asking for the signs and that the council also consider banning homeless encampments.
Los Angeles Times