Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Bel-Air, Green Meadows, six other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in eight L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Seven neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Bel-Air was the most unusual, recording seven reports compared with a weekly average of 0.0 over the last three months. Green Meadows was the lone neighborhood with a property-crime alert.
Los Angeles Times

A cold case revisited
Investigators thought they had a solid suspect in the 1988 slaying of Aleta Browne. Years later, another detective pulls the case out of the cold.
Los Angeles Times

Autopsy: TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez was shot 12 times
An autopsy report released Friday revealed that a gunman shot Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez 12 times inside a Los Angeles International Airport terminal, including six times in his lower back and buttocks. A medical examiner removed 40 bullet fragments from Hernandez's body that caused severe wounds to his internal organs, including his gastrointestinal tract, abdominal aorta, spinal cord, right kidney, pelvis, lungs, bladder, liver and heart.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Witness claims he was kidnapped, held prisoner; LAPD investigates
Police are investigating the case of a man who says he was kidnapped and held prisoner days before he was set to testify in a criminal case. Darwin Vela went missing Tuesday while walking his dog. Police searched for Vela, who was scheduled to testify Thursday in the case of a convicted felon facing a "third-strike" conviction for allegedly breaking into the home of Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend. Thursday came and went with no sign of Vela. Then on Friday, Vela emerged on the Westside. He flagged down a motorist, who alerted police.
Los Angeles Times

When LAPD officers were accused, union dug up dirt to fight back
As far as news releases go, the one the Los Angeles police union put out was highly unusual. It dealt with Brian C. Mulligan, a Hollywood executive turned banker, who had been arrested by LAPD officers. In the news release, the union portrayed Mulligan as a drug-abusing liar and accused him of trying to "shake down" the Police Department. The evidence? A secret recording that a police officer in nearby Glendale had made of Mulligan a few days before his arrest.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

California lawmakers want BB guns made in bright colors
A month after sheriff deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old Northern Californian who was carrying an airsoft gun, state lawmakers said Friday they plan to introduce legislation to require such guns to be painted bright colors to help law enforcement distinguish them from deadly firearms. The death of Andy Lopez in Santa Rosa, who was carrying a replica of an AK-47, might have been prevented if deputies could have determined the gun was not a real assault weapon, lawmakers said.
Los Angeles Times

Courts

State high court overrules breath test challenge
A message from the California Supreme Court to drivers whose breath tests put them over the limit: Don't try arguing that the testing machines can't validly measure blood-alcohol content. The machines have been studied by the Legislature and certified by the federal government, and as long as they're working properly, a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol reading is enough for a guilty verdict, the court said in a unanimous ruling Thursday.
San Francisco Chronicle

Rulings on jail terms inconsistent after changes to three-strikes law
A year after state voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, judges around the state are handing down conflicting decisions on whether prisoners given life terms for gun possession can qualify for shorter sentences. The ballot measure specifically excluded prisoners whose third strikes were either violent or serious, or who during the commission of their last crime were armed with a firearm or deadly weapon.
Los Angeles Times

Traffic

Northbound 405 in West L.A. to be closed late Monday, early Tuesday
All five lanes of the northbound 405 Freeway will be closed Monday and Tuesday in West Los Angeles as work continues on the Sepulveda Pass Improvement project, officials said. The lanes will be closed from midnight to 5 a.m., with ramp closures beginning at 7 p.m. Monday and lane closures starting at 10 p.m., according to Metro spokesman Dave Sotero. Crews will work on striping and shifting traffic lanes, Sotero said.
Los Angeles Times

Obama visit will shut down streets from Beverly Hills to Glendale
Motorists from Beverly Hills to Glendale should expect street closures Monday and Tuesday during President Obama's visit to Southern California. The Los Angeles Police Department has released a guide for which areas to avoid. They include: Los Angeles International Airport, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Westwood and Beverly Hills (405 Freeway to La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard to Venice Boulevard), 4:45 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Full tab for troubled billing system was $162 million, DWP confirms
The full price tag for developing and rolling out a new Department of Water and Power billing system riddled with problems is more than twice the $59 million cited by the utility in recent days, a spokesman acknowledged. The total cost of staff time, contractors and software for the troubled system, which has been met by a storm of public complaints, is $162 million, said Joe Ramallo, a DWP spokesman.
Los Angeles Times

Meter mad: Los Angeles activists launch effort to overhaul parking rules, fees
Steven Vincent is working with Sherman Oaks activist Jay Beeber - whose work contributed to the end of the city's red light camera program in 2011 - to propose revisions to city parking-meter policies including lower rates and longer allowable parking times. They say they would turn their Parking Meter Freedom Initiative into a ballot measure before voters if city officials don't agree with their proposals.
Los Angeles Daily News