Law Enforcement

Police ID suspect in killing of store clerk, who was mother of five
A 31-year-old man with a history of theft and narcotics-related crimes has been arrested in the slaying of Martha Sanchez, a mother of five who was shot and killed while working alone at a South L.A. discount store. Prosecutors plan to file murder and other charges against Eric Atkinson of Los Angeles, who was arrested Oct. 9 on a parole violation, police officials announced Friday. Sanchez, 39, was working at the Happy Bargain discount store about 8:50 p.m. Sept. 17 when the robbery and shooting occurred in the 7400 block of Broadway - just two blocks from the LAPD's 77th Street Station.
Los Angeles Times

Witnesses sought in fatal shooting of 14-year-old in Vermont Square
Police detectives are looking for witnesses to the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy Friday in Vermont Square. Elawnza Peebles was walking home about 9:40 p.m. Friday when he was shot near 46th Street and Kansas Avenue. The boy ran to a nearby residence and collapsed in a driveway, said Los Angeles Police Department Det. Sal LaBarbera. A neighbor who was parking his vehicle saw the boy in the driveway and called 911. Detectives do not know whether the shooter was on foot or in a vehicle.
Los Angeles Times

Search for supposedly missing 3-year-old girl is called off
Authorities on Monday night called off the search for a 3-year-old girl who reportedly had wandered onto a Metro train after her father got off. Los Angeles Police Department officers on patrol were flagged down around 7 p.m. by a male adult, saying that he couldn't find his daughter. The girl was reportedly on the train with her father, who exited the train after it came to a stop at the Pico station. She then supposedly got back onto the train, which departed and headed toward Downtown Los Angeles.
CBS LA

LAPD asked to review sex-offender residence policies
Citing concerns over illegal residences that serve as group homes for sex offenders, the Los Angeles Police Department was asked Friday to look into what other cities are doing to house the criminals and, from that, increase its efforts to limit their concentration in certain areas. The City Council's Public Safety Committee asked for the report in 60 days, prompted by concerns that some landlords have illegally been housing too many sex offenders, often near parks and schools.
Los Angeles Daily News

Nine-year-old girl and aunt injured in South L.A. shooting
A girl and her aunt suffered wounds Sunday evening after their first-floor apartment in South Los Angeles was sprayed with gunfire. Twelve to 15 shots were fired from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun into the apartment on South Central Avenue, said Sgt. Scott Stevens of the Los Angeles Police Department. The 9-year-old girl was struck once in the thigh, her 18-year-old aunt once in the arm. Both were taken to a local hospital, where they are in stable condition. Four other people were also in the apartment but were not hit.
Los Angeles Times

Fatal hit-and-run crashes on rise in U.S.
Hit-and-run crashes are increasing in many major cities, and hit-and-run fatalities are rising nationally as legislators in several states look to toughen laws to address this troubling "plague." These crashes have reached such epidemic proportions in Los Angeles that, during one recent year, nearly half of all collisions in the city involved a driver who fled the scene. Crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that the number of fatal hit-and-run crashes is trending upward, from 1,274 in 2009, to 1,393 in 2010, to 1,449 in 2011, the most recent year for which statistics were available.
USA Today

Memorial Service

Guns

Governor, Californians split on gun legislation
Lots of gun rumblings. The blood keeps spilling. And the carnage spreads. Start with the LAX shootings. The gun used by the government-hater to kill a checkpoint screener and wound three others? It was the type of firearm that would have been banned from the California market under legislation vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Not that it would have mattered for Gerardo Hernandez, 39, the TSA agent who was murdered. The bill would not have taken effect until Jan. 1.
Los Angeles Times

Prison Realignment

L.A. County has lost track of thousands of probationers
Los Angeles County has lost track of about 2,000 prison realignment probationers under its supervision, which is a higher rate than most nearby counties. High recidivism rates among this population of offenders, coupled with the sheer number of those under supervision, may have led to 1,844 criminals, or slightly more than 18 percent, of 10,142 being lost from the system, Los Angeles County Probation officials said last month. San Bernardino County, by comparison, has one of the lowest rates, with 489, or about 6 percent, of its 7,485 prison realignment offenders having warrants out for their arrest.
Riverside Press-Telegram

City Government

Austerity becoming the new normal at Los Angeles City Hall
Maybe it's the new normal at City Hall, but in Mayor Eric Garcetti's back-to-basics philosophy, there has been a definite reduction in the perks of working for a city official. Unlike his predecessors, Garcetti has proven pretty frugal with city money, as evidenced by one issue that drives a lot of taxpayer activists up the wall - city-provided cars for staffers. Garcetti has taken steps to lower the number of cars assigned to his underlings. In addition to the one given to him - tricked out with all sorts of security features - he has allowed only two staff members a city car.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A.'s top building official to stay in job for another six months
The Los Angeles City Council Friday unanimously confirmed Mayor Eric Garcetti's decision to keep Raymond Chan as temporary head of the city's Department of Building and Safety for six more months. Chan is one of more than 30 department heads Garcetti is reviewing as part of his months-long effort to build a new administration. Garcetti had promised during this year's election campaign that he would inject new energy into City Hall by having general managers reapply for their jobs.
Los Angeles Times