Law Enforcement

LAPD seeks hit-and-run driver who left Reseda woman dead
Los Angeles police on Tuesday asked for the public's help finding a hit-and-run driver who collided with a 53-year-old Reseda woman, killing her. The collision occurred on Lull Street near Enfield Avenue, about 9:30 a.m. April 3, according to a community alert put out Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division. Barbara Williams, 53, died after a vehicle collided with her and her driver's side door, which was open, according to police.
KTLA

Police arrest ex-employee of man found dead in Benedict Canyon home
A man who allegedly shot and killed his former employer at the victim's home in the Benedict Canyon area in a dispute over money was in custody today, police announced. Gerson Sanchez, 31, was arrested Sunday afternoon and booked on suspicion of murder in the death of Angelo Armani Eppolito-Autry, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
Studio City Patch

Google Glass robbers target Venice man
A man was robbed of his Google Glass and laptop near the Venice boardwalk last night, police say. The crime happened on the eve of Google's one-day release of its $1,500 product to the general public today. Cops believe the victim was robbed out in the open, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sally Madera told us. Police say they were informed of the robbery at 8:45 last night. It took place in the 3200 block of Ocean Front Walk in an area south of Venice Pier known as the Marina Peninsula.
LA Weekly

Man killed in gang-related shooting in Pico-Union neighborhood
A man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon and police were searching for the gunman after bullets tore through a residential neighborhood in Pico-Union, officials said. A man in his 20s walked up to another man near Union Avenue and 18th Street, fired several shots at him and ran away, said Los Angeles Police Department Public Information Officer Nuria Vanegas.
Los Angeles Times

Two men wounded in shooting in Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area
Two men were hospitalized with gunshot wounds Tuesday evening after a shooting along a palm-tree-lined road in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw neighborhood, officials said. Police arrived in the 4000 block of Palmyra Road about 6 p.m. and cordoned off the area as they searched for two 25-year-old men who had fled the scene after the shooting, said Officer Nuria Vanegas of the Los Angeles Police Department. Both victims, neither identified, were taken to a hospital, but there was no immediate information on their conditions.
Los Angeles Times

A look through the LAPD's stunning photo archives
An estimated one million images taken by Los Angeles Police Department officers and criminologists since the 1920s sit in storage at the City Records Center in downtown L.A. Later this month, 50 of these photographs will be on exhibit inside a fake police station at Paramount Studios. The second annual Paris Photo Los Angeles has put together Unedited! The LAPD Photo Archive as part of its massive photo fair at Paramount Studios from April 25 through 27.
The Atlantic Cities

L.A. County Sheriff's Department revising use-of-force policies
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is revising its use-of-force policies in response to a precedent-setting court decision. Under the new policy, investigators will consider how officers acted prior to an incident when determining whether they acted properly. Previously, they were just supposed to focus on the moment when force was used. "It's so dramatic, it's like an about-face from how this county has been doing it," Supervisor Gloria Molina said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Parole

One O.C. serial murder suspect had been discharged from state parole
Tethered to GPS devices and required to check in monthly with police, two convicted sex offenders so easily sidestepped efforts to monitor them that one was deemed safe enough to be formally released from state parole in the midst of what prosecutors now say was a months-long string of murders. Steven Dean Gordon, one of two transients accused of raping and murdering four women, was discharged from his state parole last November, a month after two of the women vanished from the streets of Santa Ana and just days before a third victim, a 28-year-old mother, was allegedly killed.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Coastal Commission reopens fight over L.A. beach curfew in Venice
The state Coastal Commission has quietly revived the long-running fight over an overnight beach curfew in the city of Los Angeles. In an April 9 letter, Andrew Willis, a commission enforcement analyst, asked the city Department of Recreation and Parks to "restart discussions" toward easing the midnight-to-5 p.m. ban. Opponents of the curfew called the letter's language "weak" but said it held out the promise of modifying or toppling the 16-year-old curfew.
Los Angeles Times

Garcetti budget seeks more revenue through parking tickets
Eric Garcetti caught the attention of voters during last year's mayoral race when he raised concerns about parking tickets, fines for street sweeping and loading zone violations that anger many residents. "Tickets should be used to manage parking, not as a revenue source," Garcetti wrote during a chat session on the website Reddit last year, "and that is what I am going to look to do." He also suggested a possible discount on ticket prices if fines were paid early.
Los Angeles Daily News