Law Enforcement

Mission Division's Operation Ceasefire takes aim at gang gun violence
Sixteen known gang members sat politely in a conference room at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery one night last week, listening to, among others, a police captain, a deputy district attorney, a pastor and a shooting victim. All had the same message: Stop shooting. The meeting was part of Operation Ceasefire, a five-year pilot program at the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Division started in 2011 and targeted at lowering gang violence in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
Los Angeles Daily News

Police seek clues in missing San Fernando Valley teen
A 17-year-old Hispanic woman that has been missing since Sept. 20 is now listed as critically missing and police are asking for the public's help in locating her, authorities said Sunday. Emily Mares, a San Fernando Valley resident, spoke to her mother on the phone Saturday and told her she “was depressed and was going to hurt herself,” according to Lt. Paul Weber of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division. Mares was last seen on at a Motel 6 in Canoga Park at 7132 De Soto Ave. on Sept. 20, Weber said. Mares has brown hair, brown eyes, a light complexion and is about 5'7” and 115 pounds.
Los Angeles Daily News

Hollywood marijuana dispensary burglary suspects nabbed after chase
Two men suspected of burglarizing a Hollywood marijuana dispensary were taken into custody Friday morning after a brief vehicle chase, police said. A witness called authorities around 3:15 a.m. to report that the pair was trying to break into the dispensary in the 700 block of North La Brea Avenue, said Lt. Lonnie Tiano of the LAPD's Wilshire Station. Officers backed by an air unit responded and while securing the building saw the suspects, both young men in their late teens or early 20s, running out of a door and into a car that was parked nearby, he said.
City News Service

Home invaders cut, pepper spray LA man, then flee
Los Angeles police say a man in his 30s was slashed with a knife and pepper-sprayed by three assailants who barged into his home. City News Service reports the attack happened shortly before midnight Thursday when the man opened his front door after hearing a noise outside. Sgt. Rick Colombia says the three attackers charged in and attacked. Colombia says one man cut him on the face, back and arm with a knife, while another pepper sprayed him.
Associated Press

L.A. offers $50,000 reward for hit-and-run information
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a $50,000 reward Friday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver responsible for the death of an 84-year-old pedestrian. Asghar Abbassi was fatally injured about 6 a.m., Aug. 26. Police said he was using a walker and was struck in a White Oak Avenue crosswalk at Valerio Street. The hit-and-run vehicle was described as a 2003-2005 black Nissan 350Z. No description was available of the driver.
Encino-Tarzana Patch

Woman reports intruder at Cal State Northridge dorms
A student at Cal State Northridge woke up Saturday morning to find an unknown man standing over her, touching her bare leg, according to campus police. When the woman woke up between 8 and 9 a.m., the suspect allegedly took her wallet and some documents fled the apartment, located in the University Park Apartments. A campus alert was sent to students Saturday said police did not know how the man gained access to the apartment.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD looking to nab vandals who damaged parked cars with pumpkins
The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for the vandal, or vandals, who damaged cars Saturday evening in West Hills. The suspects caused thousands of dollars in damage to the vehicles with pumpkins, said authorities. There were two crime scenes within blocks of each other, police said. The crimes occurred in the area of Woodlake Avenue and Victory Boulevard in West Hills.
CBS LA

Neighborhoods work to control prostitutes, pimps
From the commercial corridors of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys and Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood to the residential roadways of Sun Valley, the problem of street prostitution is resulting in citizen groups increasing efforts to combat the hookers and pimps taking over the streets. Councilwoman Nury Martinez, who took office in late July, said it has become one of her top priorities, and she is working with the Los Angeles Police Department, state legislators and residents to try to clean up the areas.
Los Angeles Daily News

New Law

Potential pitfalls as California hails new licenses for immigrants
As immigrant rights advocates in California celebrated a landmark law Thursday granting driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally, other states with similar provisions offered a glimpse of potential pitfalls, including rampant identity fraud and little improvement to public safety. The new law - heralded by hundreds of proponents, including Gov. Jerry Brown and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti outside City Hall on Thursday -- will set off a scramble at the Department of Motor Vehicles, which may open up to six temporary offices to handle the estimated 1.4 million immigrants who are expected to apply in the next three years.
Los Angeles Times

Local Governments