Law Enforcement

LAPD Chief Beck: Driver 'intentionally' used SUV to ram, kill officer
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday said a 20-year-old man "intentionally committed homicide" when he rammed his SUV into a squad car, killing one officer and injuring another. Appearing with Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey at a news conference, Beck said Mynor Varela exercised "willful and wanton disregard" when he crashed into the police cruiser Saturday in Harbor City in order to aid a friend in a separate car that was being pursued by LAPD Officer Roberto Sanchez, who died from his injuries.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD honors all 207 of its fallen officers
With the deaths of three Los Angeles police officers still fresh in their minds, department brass gathered Thursday to honor officers who died in the line of duty over the agency's 146-year history. In solemn remarks to officers at LAPD headquarters, Mayor Eric Garcetti said the annual remembrance ceremony was "especially poignant" because of the very recent deaths of Roberto Sanchez, Christopher Corijo and Nicholas Lee - all killed in collisions.
City News Service

Thieves targeting catalytic converters
Authorities are warning motorists about a series of thefts where catalytic converters are being stolen from Toyota trucks and SUVs, as well as Honda Elements. Det. Carmine Sasso, with the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire Division, said catalytic converters have been stolen from 34 parked vehicles since Jan. 1. Police believe the thieves are stealing the engine components to sell for scrap, or may be selling them as after-market parts.
Park LaBrea News

LAPD begins fundraising effort to aid family of officer who died of heart condition while on duty
The Los Angeles Police Department has begun a fundraising effort to aid the family of an officer who died while on duty. Officer George Nagata, a 33-year veteran of the department, died reportedly from heart trouble on May 3. In a statement, the LAPD wrote: Interested parties may contribute funds via the following options - The Public may contact the LA Police Federal Credit Union to make a donation or can mail in donations.
CBS LA

Law enforcement officers don't 'roll out' to every scene of alleged child abuse
Law enforcement agencies do not "roll out" to every scene of alleged child abuse - Los Angeles Police Department officers stay put a quarter of the time, while those in the Long Beach Police Department go out only half the time - according to an analysis by the District Attorney's Office, prompting outrage from a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Safety. District Attorney Jackie Lacey sent a form letter to the leaders of every law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County on April 1, listing the numbers of suspected child abuse reports, or SCARs, they each received last year, whether through 9-1-1 or the Department of Children and Family Services' Child Abuse Hotline.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD watchdogs question why officers are rarely found guilty of racial profiling
The Los Angeles Police Department received 204 complaints last year, accusing officers of racial profiling. (LAPD uses the term "biased policing.") Los Angeles police commissioners want to know why none of the complaints were verified. "There are virtually no complaints of biased policing or racial profiling that result in the conclusion that the officer was guilty of the charge," police commissioner Robert Saltzman said at a meeting this week.
KPCC

Driver's Licenses

State immigration advocates urge feds to reconsider rejection of driver's license prototype
A coalition of California civil and immigrants rights groups urged federal officials this week to OK a proposed driver's license design for people living in the country illegally, calling the federal government's rejection of the card "an inexplicably hard-line position." "The federal government is trying to strong-arm the state," said Refugio Mata, spokesman for Presente, a national online Latino advocacy organization, and a member of the Drive California coalition, which includes the ACLU of Southern California and the California Immigrant Policy Center.
Orange County Register

Jails

Jail construction debate heats up in Sacramento
Lobbyists for Los Angeles County appeared in Sacramento Thursday to ask the state for help funding a proposed $1.8 billion overhaul of the county jail system. Los Angeles is among many counties hoping a proposal to dish out $500 million in jail construction funds will make it through the state budget process. Previous years have provided a total of $1.2 billion in such grants to counties.
KPCC

Legislation

California Senate OKs requiring 'kill switches' on cellphones
The state Senate on Thursday approved a measure requiring cellphones sold in California to be equipped with "kill switches" that make them inoperable if stolen. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other law enforcement officials backed the legislation as a way to reduce robberies, many of them violent, in which thieves take smartphones to resell them. "We have a crime wave sweeping our state," Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) told his colleagues.
Los Angeles Times

City Government