Law Enforcement

1 dead, 4 injured in LAPD officer-involved shooting at Universal CityWalk
Officials Monday were investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting at Universal CityWalk that also left four people injured, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Police responded to CityWalk around 1:15 a.m. for a disturbance call at the Infusion Lounge. Witnesses told CBS2 that a battle of the DJs contest was being held at the club when a fight erupted and spilled outside the venue.
CBS LA

Police mourn LAPD detective killed in Beverly Hills crash
Colleagues gathered at a reception Monday to honor the life of Los Angeles Police Detective Ernest Allen, who was killed Friday in a cement truck crash in Beverly Hills. Members of the LAPD shared their memories of Allen at the Southwest Community police station where he served for 15 years. "I'm not afraid to say that I've probably cried about seven or eight times now," Lt. Julian Melendez said. "But today we're gathering as a work family, we're working through our sadness."
NBC4

Woman credits fallen LAPD detective with bringing kidnapped daughter home
A Ladera Heights mother is crediting a fallen veteran Los Angeles Police Department detective with bringing her kidnapped daughter home years ago. Raquel Butler said Det. Ernest Allen, who was killed Friday when a cement truck crashed into his vehicle in Beverly Hills, was her guardian angel. "I don't know where I would be right now, where my daughter would be right now, if he didn't feel for me," Butler said. "He really held my hand through it, literally."
CBS LA

FBI releases 2013 preliminary statistics for law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty
Preliminary statistics released today by the FBI show that 27 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2013, a decrease of more than 44 percent when compared to the 49 officers killed in 2012. By region, 15 officers died as a result of criminal acts that occurred in the South, six officers in the West, four officers in the Midwest, and two in the Northeast.
FBI News Release

Driver's Licenses

19 members of Congress urge approval of driver's license design
Nineteen Democratic members of Congress from California have signed a letter asking the Obama administration to rescind its rejection of a design for a driver's license to be issued to up 1.5 million people in the country illegally. "We encourage you to exercise flexibility in implementing the law, and approve the design approved in AB 60, to help California enhance public safety on its roads and highways," said the letter, whose signers included Reps. Juan Vargas, Xavier Becerra, Loretta Sanchez, Janice Hahn, Tony Cardenas, Alan Lowenthal and Gloria Negrete McLeod.
Los Angeles Times

Public Health

LA County prepared for threat of MERS
Los Angeles County hospitals and infectious disease experts are on high alert for MERS - Middle East Respiratory Syndrome - as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday confirmed the second case of the disease in the US. This case was confirmed in a healthcare worker who recently traveled from Saudi Arabia, where there have been 450 cases of the disease, including 112 deaths.
KPCC

City Government

Mayor Garcetti says L.A. creates high-wage jobs, but not for Angelenos
Los Angeles is creating high-wage jobs faster than low-wage jobs, but they're not going to Angelenos, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday. Discussing the city's economic future at Town Hall Los Angeles, Garcetti said recent job creation numbers were at odds with the city's increasing poverty rate. He said that after consulting with economists, he's concluded the city needs to pursue better training for its residents entering the workforce.
Los Angeles Times

Audit finds L.A.'s customer service line is expensive and inefficient
The City of L.A.'s customer service line is more expensive and less efficient than similar systems in other major cities, according to an audit released Monday by Controller Ron Galperin. Angelenos called the 3-1-1 line almost 700,000 times last year and most of those calls were to report potholes, graffiti, broken street lights and furniture left on sidewalks. The high call volume indicates residents are making use of the service, but the controller found there is room for improvement.
KPCC

L.A. politicians weigh plan to replenish affordable housing fund
Funding to help build affordable housing in Los Angeles has plunged sharply in recent years - a drop that city officials say has intensified the difficulties facing poor tenants. Now politicians have a plan to replenish the housing fund. But it relies on a key source of money that Mayor Eric Garcetti has earmarked to balance the city budget and help erase a $242-million deficit. Tapping it could trigger cuts in other services.
Los Angeles Times

City, transit officials kick off Bike Week LA
Bike Week L.A. started Monday as an effort to get more Angelenos to ride their bicycles to work and school. L.A. City Councilman Mike Bonin and transportation officials was at Union Station to kick off the week-long event, sponsored by Metro. It's a series of activities intended to get more people onto two-wheelers. On Tuesday, there will be the blessing of the bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital. And Thursday is bike-to-work day, with refreshment stands set up around the city.
KPCC