Law Enforcement

LAPD Counter-Terrorism and Special Ops gather for biennial inspection from Chief Charlie Beck
LAPD's SWAT team, K-9 units and other elite divisions gathered at Dodger Stadium Wednesday for inspection from their top commander. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck checked out the department's Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, including the SWAT team, the bomb squad, the elite Metro division, the mounted unit, K-9 unit with bomb dogs, search dogs, the dive team, the air unit and other divisions.
CBS LA

Man with chain saw arrested at Venice boardwalk; witnesses sought
Los Angeles police said Wednesday they were looking for witnesses or potential victims who may have been threatened by a man walking down the Venice boardwalk this week carrying a chain saw. The man was arrested Monday afternoon near Speedway and Market Street after several passersby reported a man was walking around with a chain saw and yelling at people, police said.
Los Angeles Times

Bids to renovate Los Angeles Police Department training academy higher than estimated
Two construction firms submitted bids Wednesday to the Board of Public Works for a planned overhaul of the Los Angeles Police Department's 1930s-era training academy in Elysian Park. Both bids are significantly higher than the $30 million the city's request for proposal estimated. Santa Fe Springs company Kemp Brothers Construction Inc. bid $34 million, while its competitor, Costa Mesa firm S.J. Amoroso Construction Co. Inc., put the cost for renovation at $38 million.
Los Angeles Daily News

Copper pipe, valve thefts in Devonshire on the rise
A recent rash of copper pipe and valve thefts have led law enforcement to ask business owners to amp up their security. The incidents have been on the rise along Nordhoff Street between Corbin and De Soto Avenues in the early morning hours when businesses are closed, according to an advisory by LAPD's Devonshire division.
Pasadena Star-News

FBI to use billboards in hunt for 'Most Wanted' bombing suspect
The FBI announced a billboard campaign Tuesday that it hopes will help it track down a man wanted in a trio of bombings a decade ago in Northern California -- two at a biotechnology company and then another a month later at a nutritional products firm. Images of Daniel Andreas San Diego - who in 2009 became the first suspected domestic terrorist added to the Bureau's "Most Wanted" Terrorist List - will be featured on electronic billboards throughout California, Florida, Massachusetts, Oregon, Nevada and Washington, as well as along the U.S.-Canada border on the East and West Coasts.
NBC News

The ones that get away
Across the United States, police and prosecutors are allowing tens of thousands of wanted felons - including more than 3,300 people accused of sexual assaults, robberies and homicides - to escape justice merely by crossing a state border, a USA TODAY investigation found. Those decisions, almost always made in secret, permit fugitives to go free in communities across the country, leaving their crimes unpunished, their victims outraged and the public at risk.
USA Today

Man gets 14 years for pointing laser at helicopter
Pointing a laser at a police helicopter got a California man a 14-year prison sentence, which federal officials and pilots hope will discourage the threat to airline safety. Sergio Rodriguez, 26, of Clovis, was sentenced Monday for pointing a laser at a Fresno police helicopter, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. Rodriguez and his girlfriend, Jennifer Coleman, 23, were both convicted by a federal jury after a three-day trial in December.
USA Today

Parole

Manson family killer Davis gets parole grant, but is not free yet
A California parole board has once again issued a grant of parole for convicted Manson family killer Bruce Davis. Gov. Jerry Brown now has 150 days to decide whether Davis, 71, should go free. Last year, Brown concluded Davis still posed a threat to society and blocked his release. "Until Davis can acknowledge and explain why he actively championed the Family's interests, and shed more light on the nature of his involvement, I am not prepared to release him," Brown wrote at the time.
Los Angeles Times

Courts

Man jailed based on mistaken identity can't sue, court rules
A man jailed in Los Angeles County for a month because he was mistaken for someone with the same name and birth date lost a legal effort Wednesday to hold law enforcement agencies responsible for the mix-up. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by Santiago Rivera that the Los Angeles and San Bernardino County sheriff's departments violated his constitutional rights when they arrested and held him based on a warrant for another man.
Los Angeles Times

Drones

Fresno Bee newspaper testing drones for covering news, taking pictures
The Fresno Bee is testing a small drone aircraft that could possibly be used for news reporting purposes, the Business Journal reported this week. "This is a new thing and it's way down the pike," Tom Cullinan, president and publisher of the Fresno Bee, told the Business Journal. "We saw it demonstrated and the cost is reasonable." The quadcopter would possibly be used for aerial photography of accidents, fires, farmland and waterways, the Journal reported.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. controller suggests merging management of two pension systems
Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin called on pension officials Wednesday to take new steps to cut costs - possibly by merging the management of two of its three retirement systems. During the recession and in its aftermath, pension costs for Los Angeles police, firefighters and city employees grew while investment returns were worse than expected, according to audit reports released Wednesday by the controller.
Los Angeles Times