Law Enforcement

LAPD Harbor Division Officer Richard Medina, injured in fatal crash, recovering at home
The partner of a Los Angeles police officer killed in a Harbor City crash was recovering at home Monday following his release from a hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken jaw, his captain said. Officer Richard Medina, who had teeth knocked out in the Saturday collision with the hit-and-run driver of an SUV, was sent home Sunday. There, he was surrounded by Los Angeles Police Department officers and his family, Capt. Gerald Woodyard said.
Torrance Daily Breeze

Fallen officers honored at Sacramento memorial
Flags at the state Capitol were at half staff on Monday as Californians honored the loss of a Los Angeles Police officer over the weekend. Officer Roberto Sanchez is the third Los Angeles officer to be killed in a collision in recent months. Hundreds of officers from across the state converged on Sacramento at the California Peace Officers' Memorial to remember their own in an annual event that reminds them of the dangers.
CBS Sacramento

Jury awards former LAPD recruits more than $12 million in injury case
A jury Monday awarded more than $12 million to a group of former Los Angeles police recruits who were forced out of the LAPD after suffering injuries in the department's training academy. The verdict comes as the department struggles to attract sufficient numbers of recruits into its ranks and many young officers have quit over a salary dispute.
Los Angeles Times

Ex-NFL player arrested after violent confrontation with officers: LAPD
Former NFL player James Hardy III was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of disturbing the peace after allegedly injuring two Los Angeles Police Department officers, police said. Officers responded around 4:20 p.m. to the 600 block of St. Paul Avenue to a disturbance call, according to the LAPD. Police attempted to detain Hardy, 28, by using less-than-lethal means and artery upper bond control, Lt. Brian Gilman said.
KTLA

Hate-crime charges filed in anti-Semitic graffiti case in Van Nuys
A man accused of scrawling anti-Semitic graffiti outside a Jewish-owned business in Van Nuys has been charged with multiple hate crimes by Los Angeles city prosecutors. Amos Hason 49, allegedly painted swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti on a fence and trash bin behind the plumbing business. Surveillance video from the site shows a man applying graffiti on two occasions. Among the scrawlings were the words: "Adolf was right. Kill Jews!" with a swastika at the end.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD breaks ground on new Northeast Station despite health concerns
The Los Angeles Police Department Monday celebrated the groundbreaking of a new police station, despite environmental concerns. The $22 million Northeast Community Police Station, located at 3353 San Fernando Road, is slated for completion in late 2015. The current building used to house a Kodak film processing lab that used toxic chemicals until it was taken over by the department in 1983.
CBS LA

Christopher Dorner manhunt report: communication breakdowns, problematic officer self-deployment
A communication breakdown and overzealous police officers who flocked to the San Bernardino Mountains wanting to be the ones who captured disgraced former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner made a dangerous situation even more dangerous, according to a report released Monday by a Washington DC-based law enforcement think tank.
San Bernardino Sun

Jails

L.A. County jail expansion proposals come at a hefty price
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors may experience "sticker shock" Tuesday when it looks at five options for replacing troubled Men's Central Jail and expanding facilities for female inmates, with the proposed price tags ranging from $1.74 billion to $2.32 billion. That's about double the cost of the original plan submitted by then Sheriff Lee Baca in 2011, and at that time, the board balked.
Los Angeles Daily News

Courts

State high court gives judges more leeway in sentencing juveniles
The California Supreme Court decided Monday that teenagers may be sentenced to life without parole for some crimes, but judges also are free to hand down lighter sentences of 25 years to life. Prior to the unanimous ruling, California law had been interpreted as requiring judges to lean toward life without parole for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds convicted of certain offenses. The decision overturned decades of lower-court rulings.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

Smartphone 'kill switch' bill will have another shot in the California Senate on Thursday
With law enforcement warning of an epidemic of smartphone thefts, the state Senate this week will be asked to reconsider a proposal to deter robberies with a bill it once killed under pressure from the telecommunications industry. Sen. Mark Leno plans on Thursday to reintroduce SB962 to require "kill switches" in all California cellphones, weeks after the effort narrowly lost a vote.
San Jose Mercury News

Cyclist who lost leg in crash inspires hit-and-run bill
As the number of bike riders continues to grow in California, so do concerns about bicyclists' safety. One lawmaker is embarking on an effort to get drivers to share the road. As Damian Kevitt stood at the starting line of the charity bike ride he organized he had one overwhelming emotion. "Elation is a nice word for it," says Kevitt. "I was so happy." It's been just over a year since an afternoon bike ride in Los Angeles ended with Kevitt as the victim of a horrific hit-and-run, pinned underneath a mini-van as it sped onto Interstate 5, dragging him nearly half a mile down the road.
Capital Public Radio

Environment

LADWP almost done switching to drinking water that's less hazardous, tastes better
This week, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will switch over the last of the city's neighborhoods to drinking water that tastes better and is potentially less harmful. When the switch is complete, all of LA's drinking water will be disinfected with the chemical compound chloramine, instead of the chlorine that's been used for decades.
KPCC