Law Enforcement

Rewards offered In Boyle Heights hit-and-run that killed probation officer
City and county officials Wednesday were each offering $50,000 rewards for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing a probation officer on his motorcycle during a hit-and-run. Kenneth Hamilton, 54, was leaving his job at the Eastlake Juvenile Facility around 6 a.m. on Oct. 28 when he was hit at the intersection of Soto Street and Lancaster Avenue in Boyle Heights. He died instantly, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
CBS LA

Man killed in Panorama City shooting ID'd as Van Nuys teen
The Los Angeles County coroner's office has identified an 18-year-old man killed in Panorama City Monday night as Jonathan Rodriguez of Van Nuys. According to investigators, patrol officers responded to a report of gunshots fired and a possible victim in the area of Nordhoff Street and Langdon Avenue at 6:35 p.m. When they arrived at a nearby parking lot, they found a wounded Rodriguez seated inside a vehicle.
Los Angeles Daily News

Clues sought in man missing from West L.A. VA Medical Center
Police Wednesday were seeking the public's help in finding a Reseda man who was last seen leaving the Veterans Administration's West Los Angeles Medical Center. Gilbert Parks, 65, was observed about 3 p.m. Tuesday exiting the facility at 11301 Wilshire Blvd., the Los Angeles Police Department reported. Parks, described as being "at risk," is diabetic and also needs dialysis, according to police.
City News Service

A children's library at the police station? Yup, you heard it right!
Last month, the LAPD's 77th Street Area police station partnered up with a local non-profit, A Chance for Children, and opened up a library right in the middle of the lobby of the police station. Dubbed the "Little Free Library," the police station lobby has been transformed into a gathering place where the kids, their parents and people from the neighborhood can share their favorite books and stories.
PubSec Alliance

The LAPD Heads to the Supreme Court
It is a foundational principle in American law that a man's home is his castle, and that if the police wish to search it for evidence of a crime, they must first obtain a warrant from an impartial magistrate. Every police officer knows this. But every police officer also knows there are exceptions, one of which is when a person with "standing," i.e., an adult who lawfully resides in the home in question, grants consent for the search.
Jack Dunphy/PJ Media

License plate readers spark privacy, public safety debate
Police have used cameras that read the license plates on passing cars to locate missing people in California, murderers in Georgia and hit-and-run drivers in Missouri. The book-sized license plate readers (LPRs) are mounted on police cars, road signs or traffic lights. The images they capture are translated into
omputer-readable text and compiled into a list of plate numbers, which can run into the millions.
USA Today

City Government

City Council looks to thaw L.A.'s hiring freeze
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday ordered a review of the city's hiring freeze policy that was put in place during lean budget years. The panel unanimously approved Councilman Bob Blumenfield's motion to take a second look at the policy "as the city begins to emerge from the economic difficulties of the last decade." Blumenfield's spokesman said the councilman is "committed to holding the line on spending while looking to improve the efficient delivery of city services."
City News Service

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti to launch new parking enforcement web site
In another effort to make City Hall more transparent, Mayor Eric Garcetti will launch a new parking enforcement website on Wednesday. Each day the site will list areas where parking tickets won't be handed out, such as when street-sweeping services have been canceled and residents won't have to move their cars. Information about street sweeping in each council district is also listed in a PDF format on the site.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin asked to audit DWP trusts
Frustrated at the amount of time it has taken to get information from two trusts funded by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the panel overseeing the utility called Tuesday for City Controller Ron Galperin to intervene and audit the trusts. Commission President Mel Levine noted it had been two months since the initial questions on how $40 million has been spent over the past 10 years by the Joint Training Institute and Joint Safety Institute.
Los Angeles Daily News

State Budget

Good news, California: Surplus is $2.4 billion
For the first time in nearly a decade, California is collecting more revenue than it is spending and will finish the fiscal year with an extra $2.4 billion, according to a report released Wednesday by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst. The good news comes after an era that saw one of the worst budget crises in California history - the fiscal shortfall sank to $60 billion in the 2009-10 budget, the state controller mailed IOUs to vendors in 2009 and state lawmakers slashed programs year after year to make ends meet.
San Francisco Chronicle