Law Enforcement

Police commission seeks public input on Chief Beck re-appointment
The Los Angeles Police Commission is seeking public comment to inform its decision to give LAPD Chief Charlie Beck a second term at the head of the nation's third-largest police department. Beck officially put in papers May 15 seeking a second five-year term, per city charter protocol. Beck announced to reporters in April that he planned to ask for a second term.
KPCC

Officers search for burglar who broke into North Hollywood private school
Officers searched a private North Hollywood school Monday morning after firefighters answering an alarm found evidence of a break-in, police said. The alarm went off around 2:45 a.m. at The Country School, 5243 Laurel Canyon Blvd., said Lt. Brian Morrison of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station. Firefighters contacted police after they saw evidence of a break-in but no fire, Morrison said.
City News Service

LAPD officer says pedestrians at fault in North Hollywood collision
A police officer investigating a North Hollywood collision in which a Toyota Corolla struck and injured a mother and her toddler in an unmarked crosswalk Sunday said he is not asking for charges to be filed against the driver. The 10:35 a.m. collision on Sunday left the mother with a fractured spine and her daughter, who turns 3 later this month, with abrasions and scrapes, officials said. The two were taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for treatment.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAFD

Veteran LAFD helicopter pilot killed in off-duty crash of small plane
An off-duty Los Angeles firefighter was killed and a boy passenger was in critical condition after a small, private plane crashed near El Mirage Lake in the Mojave Desert on Monday, according to authorities. The crash occurred at the northwest end of the dry lake bed around 11:10 a.m, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. His civilian passenger was in critical condition, the department stated in a news release. Off-duty LAFD colleagues witnessed the crash and “rushed to render aid,” the release said.
KTLA

Driverless Cars

Google's driverless car will need more testing, watchdog group warns
A consumer group wants the California Department of Motor Vehicles to slow Google's rush to get driverless cars on the road. Consumer Watchdog said the state's regulations don't allow enough time to test the self-driving cars beore allowing them on California streets and highways. "We urge the DMV to follow a sensible and deliberate approach that would require adequate testing and time to analyze the test results," wrote John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director, in a letter to DMV Director Jean Shiomoto.
Los Angeles Times

Prisons

High court won't hear California's prison appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that California bears responsibility for nearly 2,000 disabled parolees housed in county jails. The decision could leave state taxpayers liable for problems at some of the jails, said Jeffrey Callison, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The high court did not comment as it declined to consider Gov. Jerry Brown's appeal of a January 2012 decision by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland.
Associated Press

Public Safety

L.A. County supervisors agree to appoint child protection czar
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to appoint a child protection czar who would make sweeping changes in the way the county protects abused and neglected children. The new Office of Child Protection would represent the most significant reorganization of county government in nearly a decade since the supervisors selected William T Fujioka as chief executive and endowed his office with significantly enhanced authority.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Proposed L.A. sales-tax hike to fix roads is on hold, official says
Los Angeles officials will not seek to put a half-cent sales tax hike for street and sidewalk repairs on the November ballot, a spokesman for a city councilman who had been pursuing the proposal said Tuesday. Branimir Kvartuc, who works for City Councilman Joe Buscaino, said L.A. leaders are still trying to find the best time to ask voters to approve an increase and will look at elections in 2015 or later.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. panel takes key step toward wage boost for hotel workers
Los Angeles lawmakers took a crucial step Tuesday toward ramping up the minimum wage for thousands of hotel workers, asking staff to draft an ordinance that would increase their pay to at least $15.37 an hour. City leaders have been considering the increase for workers at big, non-unionized hotels, a move championed by labor groups and backed by some civic and business leaders as a way to jumpstart the economy and pull workers out of poverty.
Los Angeles Times

Council members seek tighter state regulation of ride-sharing firms
Three members of the Los Angeles City Council called Tuesday for state lawmakers to back tighter state regulation of ride-sharing companies such as Lyft and Uber, arguing that existing rules leave passengers using the firms' smartphone apps vulnerable and put traditional taxicabs at an unfair disadvantage. "When it comes to public safety, there shouldn't be a double standard in Los Angeles," Councilman Paul Koretz said, calling the ride-sharing firms "well-financed bandit cabs with apps."
Los Angeles Times