Law Enforcement

LA marks longest no-murder milestone in three years
In a city that averages one homicide a day, Los Angeles police are marking a public safety milestone. There have been no homicides within city limits for 10 days and 10 nights - a feat that has not been seen since 2010. The latest homicide happened on Oct. 8, when a 27-year-old man was killed as he sat a stop light after dropping off his mother at a bus stop in South Los Angeles. That man's slaying marked the 217th in the city this year, according to LAPD. Multiple changes in law enforcement - including new technologies - are credited with lowering the homicide rate in LA 9 percent since last year.
NBC4

LAPD SWAT officer's memory lives on through 5K challenge
Hundreds of people took part in the 6th Annual Randy Simmons 5K Challenge in honor of the first LAPD SWAT officer killed in the line of duty. Hosted by the LAPD Metro Division, the event paid tribute to Randy Simmons, a 27-year veteran who was shot to death in 2008 during a raid of a house in Winnetka, according to KNX 1070s Pete Demetriou. The event - which included a cross-fit challenge, a 5K run, and the Police Unity Tour Bike Ride - began at 8 a.m. Saturday just outside the Los Angeles Police Academy, located at 1880 N. Academy Road in Elysian Park.
CBS LA

LAPD arrests 2nd airport employee in connection with dry ice bombs at LAX
A second airport employee has been arrested for his alleged role in setting off dry ice bombs at Los Angeles International Airport, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Miguel Angel Iniguez, 41, was arrested Friday while at work and booked on suspicion of possessing a destructive device near an aircraft. He's being held on $500,000 bail. Iniguez was a supervisor for Servisair, a contract service company at LAX, and oversaw the work of 28-year-old Dicarlo Bennett, who was arrested Tuesday night for reportedly setting the devices.
CBS LA

LAPD hunts for woman allegedly abducted by ex-boyfriend
Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollenbeck Division are asking the public to help them locate a 22-year-old woman they say has been kidnapped by an ex-boyfriend. The alleged victim and suspect were last seen near the 4000 block of Huntington Drive on Friday evening, around 7 p.m. Witnesses said Karen Pineda was heard asking the suspect - identified as 28-year-old Jose Luis Marin (AKA Jose Luis Marin Duran) - to leave the area and that police had been called.
CBS LA

Van Nuys prostitution sting leads to 22 arrests
Police arrested nine men and 13 women during a prostitution sting in Van Nuys on Thursday night, according to authorities. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys Division and all-Valley vice units conducted the sting along a four-mile stretch of the Sepulveda Boulevard corridor, from Raymer Street to Ventura Boulevard. In four hours, officers arrested 19 people for solicitation of prostitution, one for loitering for the purposes of prostitution, one for lewd conduct and one for possession of methamphetamine, according to police.
Los Angeles Daily News

Beware of fake products this holiday season
As the holiday season slowly approaches, it's time to start making lists of what to buy loved ones - or what you want to find waiting under the tree for yourself. With expensive electronics, designer clothes, fine jewelry and popular toys gracing the top of many people's lists, it's tempting to want to cut corners to reduce costs. However, finding a deal on an item that seems too good to be true probably means it is. Craig Crosby founded The Counterfeit Report in May 2012.
St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press

Whereabouts of 2,000 potentially high-risk probationers in Los Angeles County unknown
The whereabouts of nearly 2,000 potentially high-risk probationers in Los Angeles County is unknown, county probation officials said Friday. The unaccounted offenders have warrants out for their arrests and make up more than 20 percent of those in the county included in Gov. Jerry Brown's prison realignment plan. Under the 2011 Assembly Bill 109, or prison realignment, the responsibility of monitoring lower-level offenders shifted from the state to county agencies to comply with a three-judge panel's order to reduce the state prison population and improve health conditions for inmates.
Long BeachPress-Telegram

U.N. torture investigator seeks access to California prisons
The United Nations' lead torture investigator says he is worried about increased use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and wants access to California lockups to ensure that prisoners' rights are being protected. "We should have more justification" for putting prisoners in isolation, Juan Mendez, the UN's special rapporteur (reporter) on torture told The Times' editorial board Friday. He called for greater scrutiny of prison systems that routinely put inmates in solitary confinement.
Los Angeles Times

Traffic

San Diego (405) Freeway work delayed by faulty retaining walls
The 405 Freeway project is more than 15 months behind schedule, a timeline that has Angelenos bemoaning the traffic congestion caused by construction of the 10-mile car-pool lane. A federal review quietly released in August of the massive $1 billion project identified the collapsed wall as the "single biggest factor in extending the completion date to September 2014." U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx also noted that a second major factor was an unexpected need for relocations of utility lines.
Los Angeles Daily News

City Government

Tour vendors booted from Hollywood's Walk of Fame
As of Sunday, sales of bus tours from the Walk of Fame are no longer be permitted. Under a change approved by the Los Angeles City Council last month, tour businesses must sell tickets from shops or kiosks on private property. It is a sign that for all that city leaders have achieved in giving a dramatic face-lift to a strip once lined with tramps and trinket shops, Hollywood Boulevard still needs a few nips and tucks.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Fire Department's top internal watchdog is removed
The Los Angeles Fire Department's top internal watchdog was removed from his post in the latest shake-up at the LAFD under new Mayor Eric Garcetti. The city Fire Commission voted 5 to 0 Tuesday to dismiss Stephen E. Miller, 59, the department's independent assessor. The watchdog position was created by a voter-approved ballot measure in 2009, partly in response to soaring settlement costs in employee harassment and discrimination lawsuits at the department.
Los Angeles Times