Law Enforcement

L.A. homicides down 13% in 2013, on pace for lowest total since 1966
Homicides are down 13% in Los Angeles in 2013 compared with last year, and the city is on target to have the lowest number of killings since 1966, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday. While overall crime is down about 5% compared with 2012, Beck said, the drop in homicides continues to amaze him. As of Thursday, the city reported 222 homicides. "That is 33 less homicides so far this year than last year," Beck said in a news conference at the Olympic police station.
Los Angeles Times

Crime alerts for Hollywood, Encino and seven other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in nine L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Eight neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hollywood was the most unusual, recording 25 reports compared with a weekly average of 10.8 over the last three months. Encino was the lone neighborhood with a property-crime alert.
Los Angeles Times

Man tried to kidnap 13-year-old girl in Venice, police say
Los Angeles police are warning the public about a man who tried to kidnap a 13-year-old girl last week in Venice. The incident took place around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 at Lincoln Boulevard and Milwood Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Police said the man approached the girl from behind and grabbed her arm. She kicked the man and ran away. The man left in a vehicle described as a white four-door sedan.
Los Angeles Times

Two suspects sought after man is fatally shot in Pico-Union
Investigators are searching for two suspects who walked up to a man in Pico-Union and shot him to death Wednesday, police said. Officers called to the 1300 block of South Union Avenue at 8:19 p.m. found the victim dead with multiple gunshot wounds, said Los Angeles police Officer Bruce Borihanh. Officials with the Los Angeles County coroner's office identified the man as 39-year-old Atilio Benavides-Amaya of Los Angeles. The two assailants fled in a vehicle, police said.
Los Angeles Times

Roommate dispute in Hollywood Hills West turns deadly, police say
A dispute between two roommates in Hollywood Hills West turned fatal Wednesday night when one of the men stabbed the other multiple times, police said. Los Angeles Police Department Officer Bruce Borihanh said authorities were called to the home in the 1700 block of Courtney Avenue at 8:48 p.m. "It's a roommate dispute, turned into a stabbing," Borihanh said. The men were both in their 30s. After the fight, both were taken to the hospital where the man who had been stabbed was pronounced dead.
Los Angeles Times

54 demonstrators arrested at Wal-Mart protest in Chinatown
Dozens of people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest to demand that Wal-Mart pay workers better wages. The protesters said as many as 825,000 Wal-Mart employees earn less than $25,000 a year. They accused the store of retaliating against workers who take part in labor activism. The demonstration took place near the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Chinatown. Officers arrested 54 people for alleged failure to disperse after an unlawful assembly was declared, said Los Angeles Police Det. Gus Villanueva.
Los Angeles Times

LAX shooting: LAPD chief calls for more curbside cameras at airport
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said he would like to improve curbside camera surveillance at LAX, noting that police "struggled" to determine how a gunman arrived at the airport in last week's deadly rampage. The chief's comments came nearly a week after Paul Anthony Cianca, 23, allegedly opened fire in the airport's Terminal 3, killing one TSA agent and wounding three others before he was shot and taken into custody by airport police.
Los Angeles Times

'Public Safety' exception to Miranda warnings arises in LAX-shooting case
The airport shooting in Los Angeles has rekindled a now-familiar debate over the circumstances under which the government may question a criminal suspect without first advising him of his right to a lawyer. The local U.S. attorney's office has taken what legal experts describe as an aggressive interpretation of an exception to the Miranda rule in investigation of Paul Anthony Ciancia, the suspect in a shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport last Friday.
Wall Street Journal

Prison Realignment

New crimes could undermine California's 'realignment'
So far, about 40,000 felons have been affected by California's "realignment" program, which is aimed at reducing overcrowding in prisons in accordance with federal court orders without, it's said, releasing dangerous criminals to prey upon the public. Gov. Jerry Brown is hoping that realignment will get the federal judges off his back, and also, it would seem, hoping that the "realigned felons," as some reports term them, don't do anything that would create a big public stink. Both of those hopes, however, are still just that.
Sacramento Bee

The Courts

California loses another round in lawsuit over ammunition rules
An appeals court has affirmed a lower court's issuance of a permanent injunction against a 2009 state law that would have required Californians who buy handgun ammunition to supply their thumbprint, photo ID and other information. The decision Wednesday by the California Court of Appeals for the 5th District agreed with Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker, who filed a lawsuit arguing that the law was improperly vague in applying to "handgun ammunition" because many bullets can be used in short and long guns.
Los Angeles Times

City Government