Law Enforcement

Magdalene Project hires ex-vice cop to steer efforts to curb prostitution
In the continuing fight against streetwalkers in the San Fernando Valley, a private 30-year-old social agency is stepping up its efforts to convince the prostitutes - many as young as 13 - to leave their pimps and get off the streets. Heading up the new effort at the Mary Magdalene Project is Stephany Powell, a former teacher and Los Angeles Police Department officer for 20 years, who most recently headed the Vice Unit in Van Nuys until her retirement.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD chief: Too early to judge fatal shooting of unarmed suspect
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said Monday he was reserving judgment about why officers fatally shot an unarmed car chase suspect after he crashed his Corvette on live TV and tried to stagger away. Beck warned that officers may have had a different perspective from that of news helicopters over the scene Friday night in downtown Los Angeles. Brian Newt Beaird, 51, of Oceanside, was shot to death by LAPD gunfire live on KTLA-TV at the end of a nearly hour-long pursuit just seconds after his Corvette collided with another car at an intersection, spun his mangled vehicle and careened onto the sidewalk.
Los Angeles Times

Gun buyback nets 1,500 weapons - and debate over program's value
With gun-rights groups questioning the value of the exchange, a statewide gun-buyback program brought in more than 1,500 weapons from citizens hoping to receive grocery-store gift cards, officials announced Monday. Since 2009, Los Angeles has held seven gun buybacks - the campaign was started by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa but is now under the purview of Mayor Eric Garcetti's Gang Reduction and Youth Development Office.
Los Angeles Daily News

2 LAPD officers injured in minor crash
Two officers Monday were recovering from injuries suffered when their cruiser was rear-ended in the Westlake District. The accident happened around 10:30 p.m. at the intersection of West Olympic Boulevard and South Alvardado Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Authorities said a van collided with the marked patrol car as it sat in a left hand turn lane. The officers complained of pain and were transported to a local hospital in stable conditions. The extent of their injuries was unknown. The driver of the van was not arrested.
CBS LA

Brawl erupts during frat party at Radisson Hotel near LAX involving up to 1,500 people
Police spent almost an hour quelling a brawl that erupted at the Radisson hotel near Los Angeles International Airport early Monday morning, a sergeant said. The brawl may have been touched off by a fight between people not related to the gathering in the second-floor ballroom at the Radisson Hotel, 6225 West Century Blvd., said Sgt. Robin Richards of the LAPD West Los Angeles Station. Officers arrived at the hotel around 12:45 a.m. and started to leave the hotel around 1:30 a.m., Richards said.
City News Service

Leads sought in reality TV director's killing; $75,000 reward offered
Police detectives Monday announced a $75,000 reward in the killing of a reality television director at his Glassell Park home in hopes of drumming up more leads in the case. James Marcus Howe, 42, and his wife were in their home shortly before 11 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving when a person posing as a solicitor knocked on the door. Two people then ambushed the couple, and a struggle ensued. One of the intruders pulled out a handgun and fatally shot Howe. His wife, Danae, survived, but Howe died at the scene.
Los Angeles Times

San Jose's crime rate surpasses U.S. average, arrests plummet
Just how bad has crime gotten in San Jose? Once known as America's Safest Big City, the capital of Silicon Valley has a higher crime rate than California or the United States as a whole, while the city's police force is catching half as many criminals as it did just a few years ago. That's according to a new analysis by the city's independent auditor, which also found the city was clearing a far lower percentage of crimes than the average U.S. city and had seen police response time for some emergency calls more than double in eight years. Chief Larry Esquivel, sworn in last week, confronts a department with low morale as officers continue to flee for better-paying jobs elsewhere.
San Jose Mercury-News

FBI works to disrupt mass shootings by helping people get access to mental health treatments
The FBI says it has helped to disrupt or prevent nearly 150 shootings and violent attacks this year, in part by steering potential gunmen toward mental health professionals. It's an achievement that stands out during a year when President Barack Obama made curbing gun violence a priority, yet has had little success in getting new restrictions enacted. There have been hundreds of these disruptions since 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder recently told an audience of police chiefs, touting the behind-the-scenes work of a small FBI unit based out of Quantico, Va.
Associated Press

Prisons & Parole

California agrees to set minimum terms for murderers
Facing allegations that California keeps convicted murderers and others serving life-with-parole terms in prison an excessive time, the state has agreed to set initial minimum sentences for those inmates. The deal is part of a settlement over the case of a Soledad prison inmate who challenged California's parole policies for those in prison on open-ended sentences. The agreement was signed Monday by state Appeals Court Justice J. Anthony Kline, a San Francisco jurist who questioned the constitutionality of California's long prison stays in a previous case.
Los Angeles Times

Jerry Brown's murderer parole record reverses past governors'
Even though legal controversy remains over how long convicted murderers must remain in prison before a state parole board decides they can safely be released, the odds of those people seeing freedom have greatly increased under Gov. Jerry Brown. Parole release records for Brown's first two years in office show he has a track record of blocking fewer than one out of five releases recommended by the state Board of Parole Hearings.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

City of Los Angeles' deficit growing for next fiscal year
The city of Los Angeles is anticipating a large budget deficit next summer due in part to unexpected salary and health care costs for city workers, according to a financial report presented to the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee Monday. When the next fiscal year starts in July, the city's deficit could be as much as $242 million. That's about $90 million more than what the city's top budget official had anticipated. The growing shortfall is the result of unexpected salary and health care costs for city workers.
Southern California Public Radio