Law Enforcement

About 50 members of violent L.A. street gang are arrested in sweep
Dozens of members of a notorious Los Angeles street gang were arrested early Tuesday as federal and local investigators moved to break up what they said was a violent and powerful cartel that ran a drug operation that stretched as far as Louisiana. Members of the Five Deuce Broadway Gangster Crips have long imposed their will with acts of violence as they freely sold drugs near schools and playgrounds and even moved into skid row in downtown L.A. because of its potential as a drug market, authorities said.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. area resident, how safe do you feel?
Statistics help us quantify risk. But how do we calculate the value that simply feeling safe contributes? That's bound to become part of the discourse as the public weighs in on LAPD Chief Charlie Beck's bid for a second five-year term. "If you look at city-level stats, there's a pretty good picture," said UC Irvine criminology professor Charis E. Kubrin. "There's a lot to be happy about; L.A. keeps declining in crime rates."
Los Angeles Times

Kidnapping suspect caught in Van Nuys
Los Angeles police have arrested a man suspected of kidnapping his girlfriend after the suspect and victim were located in Van Nuys on Sunday, police said. Officers were alerted to a possible kidnap in progress in the 9200 block of Sharp Avenue around 11:05 a.m. and gathered enough information to believe that the victim had indeed been kidnapped from the location, LAPD Sgt. Karen Spencer said.
City News Service

LAPD seeks public's help in locating missing woman, 32
The Los Angeles Police Department Tuesday asked for the public's help in locating a missing woman. Marissa Lynn Vanluvender, 32, was last seen at her residence in the 7000 block of Estepa Drive on May 29. Vanluvender was described as Caucasion with brown hair and brown eyes. She's 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. Anyone with information about her whereabouts was asked to contact the LAPD at (213)996-1800.
CBS LA

West San Fernando Valley to have new neighborhood prosecutor
West San Fernando Valley: Meet Karine Philips. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer introduced his latest neighborhood prosecutor for the Topanga Division during a town hall meeting Tuesday at Canoga Park High School. The introduction comes after Feuer doubled the number of neighborhood prosecutors, deputy city attorneys who work directly with the community and police to deal with the quality-of-life issues closest to the daily lives of Angelenos.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD detective is suspected of racial, vulgar comments
Los Angeles police officials are investigating allegations that a veteran detective made racially charged comments about shooting black men and disparaged several superiors with vulgar insults during a training lecture given to other cops. Frank Lyga, a veteran investigator assigned to the LAPD's gang and narcotic division, has been removed from field duties pending the outcome of the investigation, said Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman.
Los Angeles Times

Legislation

'Audrie's Law' juvenile rape bill stalls in Assembly committee
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill toughening penalties for juveniles who commit sex crimes, dubbed "Audrie's Law" after a 15-year-old assault victim who committed suicide, but the measure stalled Tuesday in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Civil rights groups and children's protective groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, oppose the bill, Senate Bill 838, as a major change in juvenile criminal law - especially its mandatory two-year term of incarceration for violation.
Sacramento Bee

Smartphone kill-switch bill passes first Assembly committee
With opposition from wireless carriers and manufacturers eroding, a bill to require smartphones sold in California to be equipped with "kill-switch" technology has passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. "Kill switch" technology renders phones useless if they are stolen. Smartphone crime has doubled nationwide in the last year, according to Consumer Reports, which estimated that about 3.1 million devices were stolen in 2013, up from 1.6 million in 2012.
San Francisco Business Times

Traffic

Some 101 Freeway ramps are closing nightly for the rest of June
Five onramps and offramps on the 101 Freeway between North Broadway and Lankershim Boulevard will be closed nightly through the end of June as workers replace bridge rails on overpasses. The California Department of Transportation said the following ramps will be closed Sundays through Fridays from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Motorists, local businesses and residents might hear noise and feel vibrations during the construction.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

City office doesn't give medical marijuana dispensaries list to LAPD
A list of more than 800 potentially illegal medical marijuana dispensaries was not shared with the Los Angeles Police Department and other officials responsible for shutting down such shops, city officials said during a Los Angeles City Council committee meeting Monday. The city Office of Finance has a list of 972 medical marijuana dispensaries registered to pay taxes to the city, but the police department and other city officials who reported to the Budget and Finance Committee meeting appeared not to be using this list for enforcement purposes.
Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch

DWP union chief warns L.A. officials not to withhold trust payment
Flanked by a passel of labor leaders, Department of Water and Power union chief Brian D'Arcy warned Los Angeles officials Tuesday not to halt a scheduled payment to two DWP-affiliated nonprofits, arguing it would break a bargaining agreement with the city. If that pact is broken, "they're looking for trouble," D'Arcy said to hundreds of union workers and their allies amassed outside the DWP building. "And I know you can give it to them."
Los Angeles Times