Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Reseda and three other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in four L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Four neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Reseda was the most unusual, recording eight reports compared with a weekly average of 2.2 over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD looking into Craigslist killing suspect's claim of local victim
Los Angeles police are looking into the validity of claims by a young woman suspected of killing a man in Pennsylvania she met on Craigslist that she may have another victim in L.A. Miranda Barbour, 19, reportedly told a Pennsylvania newspaper that she killed 22 people, including someone in Los Angeles, and that she was a prolific serial killer in a satanic cult. LAPD Cmdr.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Chief Beck expresses condolences for fallen CHP officers
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck began Tuesday's Police Commission meeting talking not about Los Angeles but about the kinship his department feels with the two California Highway Patrol officers who were killed in a crash south of Fresno. "Loss of any law enforcement is tragic," Beck said, adding that the department has offered its "condolences and strong feelings of support" to the CHP.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. police panel revises officer shooting reviews
The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday revised the way it evaluates police shootings, tying an officer's use of deadly force to his or her actions in the moments leading up to the incident. The unanimous decision by the civilian panel that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department was made to bring the department in line with current legal standards. It also is expected to clarify commission rules that in the past have led to confusion over how the panel evaluates some officers who fire their weapons or use other deadly force.
Los Angeles Times

Rapes are up under new FBI definition
Two years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it was changing the definition of rape that had been in place since 1927. It took effect for last year's violent crime count, and, under that new definition, rapes were up in most cities. Violent crime in general dropped about 5.4 percent between the first half of 2012 and the first half of 2013, according to the FBI's semiannual Uniform Crime Report. Rapes, however, increased.
Washington Post

LAPD seeks Filipino-American recruits
The United States' second largest police department is on the lookout for Filipinos to join their squad. While the Los Angeles area is home to the largest Filipino American community, Filipinos make up about two percent of the 22,000 strong force. "Our belief in community policing is to have a force that reflects the community and the Filipino community is a big community in the city of Los Angeles," Los Angeles Police Department officer Jivlee Abalos said.
ABS-CBN News

Traffic

Relieved transportation officials proclaim 'Jamzilla' a success
RIP, "Jamzilla." With many Angelenos taking a holiday from traffic, the Presidents Day weekend closure of the northbound 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass proved a success, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday. Working day and night, construction crews accomplished the task of paving what will be a new carpool lane and restriping the Westside section of road.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

California legislature considering ammunition background check bill
"In California, to buy a product that has the potential to maim or kill another human being, you can walk into any gun store and buy all the ammunition you like," says Democratic State Senator Kevin de Lèon, who authored the bill. "You can fill a U-Haul truck, no questions asked." He says his bill would provide commonsense safeguards to the sale of a potentially lethal product and give law enforcement a useful tracking tool.
Capital Public Radio

California lawmakers look at credit card hacking
Personal information collected from credit card shoppers could best be protected by upgrading the country's entire payment system, the head of the state retailers association testified at a joint legislative hearing. The Tuesday informational hearing of the state Assembly's banking and judiciary committees looked into the causes of recent massive hackings of about 70 million computerized records at Target Corp. and a smaller incident involving about 1.1 million customers at Neiman Marcus department stores.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

City attorney: Assisted-care facilities abused, punished residents
L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit against two assisted-care facilities for allegedly abusing their disabled patients in "deplorable, overcrowded and substandard living conditions." At the behest of Feuer's office, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Friday also appointed a receiver to immediately begin relocating those being cared for at the two facilities with the assistance of state and county officials.
Los Angeles Times

Garcetti will visit Mexico City on his first foreign trip as mayor
Mayor Eric Garcetti is planning to travel next month to Mexico City on the first of what he says will be many international trade missions to promote Los Angeles. Garcetti met Tuesday in his City Hall office with a delegation of Mexico City officials to lay groundwork for his four-day visit, scheduled to start March 2. Traveling with Garcetti will be top managers of the city's harbor and airport departments, along with executives of the L.A. Tourism and Convention Board.
Los Angeles Times