Law Enforcement

LAPD patrols, checkpoints geared toward holiday drinkers
Los Angeles police will be out in force this holiday season, cracking down on impaired drivers using DUI stops and saturation patrols. On Friday, a checkpoint is scheduled for the Hollywood area at Hollywood Boulevard and Bronson Avenue from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. and in Van Nuys at Ventura Boulevard and Columbus Avenue from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
City News Service

Judge tosses former bank exec's claims against police union
A judge has tossed out a former Hollywood deal maker and banking executive's claims that the Los Angeles police union conspired to retaliate against him for suing LAPD officers. In an order issued this week, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner found Brian Mulligan fell far short of making a legitimate legal case in his lawsuit against the L.A. Police Protective League. Mulligan failed, Klausner ruled, largely because he could not show League officials had done anything that violated his rights or that was outside the bounds of typical legal jockeying.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD chief 'very concerned' about fatal shooting of car-chase suspect
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck placed three Los Angeles police officers who opened fire on an unarmed car-chase suspect on extended leave Thursday, expressing concern about the deadly shooting. Beck made the decision after a briefing from LAPD investigators examining the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of Brian Newt Beaird. Detectives told Beck the officers from the LAPD's Newton Division shot more than 20 times.
Los Angeles Times

DUI suspect totals his mother's new SUV in North Hollywood police chase
A man was taken into custody early Thursday morning and faces DUI charges after crashing his mother's new SUV while trying to avoid a police stop, police said. Officers stopped the man for a drunk-driving check around midnight as he was traveling eastbound in the 12200 block of Oxnard Street, said Sgt. Mike Cammert of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station.
City News Service

Brutal beating of transient captured on video
A brutal beating of a transient in Venice Beach was captured on video, and police are hoping that footage of the incident will help them arrest the attackers. The incident occurred along the Venice Beach boardwalk at about 4 a.m. last Friday morning and was filmed by a resident living above, James Karhu. "My heart was beating out of my chest," Karhu said to NBC. "All I heard was the main guy in white saying, 'Get out of here. Get out of Venice Beach. You don't belong in Venice Beach.'"
Huffington Post

CSULB officials continue probe into fraternity brawl at hotel near LAX
Officials at Cal State Long Beach are questioning students before deciding if a formal campus investigation is needed after an early Monday morning brawl that broke out among a couple of dozen people at a toy drive put on by a university fraternity at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport. As many as 1,500 people were gathered at the 16th annual Kappa Khristmas Jam & Toy Drive organized by the Epsilon Kappa Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at Cal State Long Beach, held at the Radisson Hotel on Century Boulevard.
Long Beach Press-Telegram

CU-Boulder selects Melissa Zak as new police chief
After two decades with the Los Angeles Police Department - much of which she spent watching over the University of Southern California's campus - Melissa Zak was ready to take what she had learned to a university police force. "I wanted to take that 20 years and apply that experience at another agency," Zak said. Now, after five months as deputy chief at the University of Colorado Police Department, Zak will get to apply that experience as the school's top cop. CU announced the move Wednesday.
Boulder Daily Camera

Legislation

Steinberg seeks to restore mental health funds for criminals
Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Thursday that he will seek to restore a state program that funded county services for mentally ill people who run afoul of the law. After a decade of state funding, the Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grants ceased in 2008 due to budget cuts. Steinberg wants to restore funding, starting with $50 million in the next budget year. But that money is contingent on whether Gov. Jerry Brown receives a delay in a federal court order to reduce state prison crowding.
Los Angeles Times

Leno to offer bill requiring cell 'kill switches'
A Bay Area lawmaker will offer a bill requiring cell-phone manufacturers to include a "kill switch" that can remotely render a phone inoperable after it has been stolen. State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, is working on the legislation with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who has been crusading for kill switches for a while in order to combat a plague of cell-phone robberies and thefts. Leno said Thursday he intends to introduce the bill at the start of the 2014 legislative session next month.
Inside Bay Area

New Regulations

State imposing daily recycling limit in effort to stop fraud
In an effort to deter recycling fraud, state officials Thursday announced new daily limits on the number of bottles and cans an individual can redeem at recycling centers. The regulations, which take effect Jan. 1, are part of the state's effort to stop beverage container recycling fraud, including cases where scofflaws drive trucks of cans from Arizona to recycle them in California where they can get money for them. Fraud is draining the state's $1.1-billion recycling fund.
Los Angeles Times

ID Theft

More than Target customers are at ID theft risk
Your personal information isn't safe. That doesn't apply only to the 40 million Target shoppers whose credit and debit card numbers may now be in the hands of hackers. It's a trend that's been clear for many years: The stewards of consumers' personal info - businesses, hospitals, government agencies - are woefully negligent when it comes to safeguarding data. Too often, sensitive computer files are unencrypted or left on laptops that get stolen. Aggressive moves by hackers are met with only the most cursory security upgrades.
Los Angeles Times