Law Enforcement

Off-duty LAPD officer killed in Torrance motorcycle crash identified
A 24-year-old Los Angeles Police Department patrol officer who was killed in an off-duty traffic collision in Torrance on Saturday has been identified as Erick Alcaraz, authorities said Sunday. Alcaraz was driving his own private motorcycle southbound on Western Avenue just before 5 p.m. Saturday when a driver in a 2013 Kia Optima turned left from West 234th Street onto South Western and collided into him, according to a preliminary account from the Torrance Police Department.
Los Angeles Daily News

Brown denies parole for killer of San Diego police officer in 1978
Gov. Jerry Brown late Friday rejected a parole panel recommendation that he free a man who has spent nearly 36 years in prison for the 1978 killing of a San Diego police officer. Brown overturned the panel's recommendation that Jesus Cecena, 53, be paroled in the killing of Officer Archie Buggs. Cecena "poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison," Brown wrote in a four-page decision.
Los Angeles Times

2 retired LAPD officers awarded $1M in workplace retaliation lawsuit
Two retired Los Angeles police officers, including one who survived a hail of gunfire in the 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery shootout, were awarded more than $1 million by jurors who found the former lawmen were retaliated against for reporting alleged misconduct within their unit. A jury returned the verdict Wednesday in favor of former Lt. Loren Farell and ex-Detective Juan Baello, who were awarded $308,000 and $723,500, respectively.
CBS LA

Assailant sought in Van Nuys stabbing death
Police were looking for leads into the stabbing death of a man in Van Nuys early Sunday. The victim, described as a Latino between 45 and 50, was on the sidewalk near the intersection of Erwin Street and Van Nuys Boulevard with multiple stab wounds to his torso. A person flagged down Los Angeles Police Department traffic officers at 4:40 a.m., LAPD Lt. David Legaspi said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD seeks suspect in Crenshaw homicide
The shooting death of a Hawthorne man near 28th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard on Saturday night had police searching Sunday for a black SUV seen leaving the scene. The shooting was reported Saturday at 6:20 p.m., according to Sally Madera, an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department's media relations section. Keith Alan Hasson, 48, of Hawthorne, was shot in his head and back on Crenshaw Boulevard, about a quarter mile south of the 10 Freeway, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
CBS LA

Man shot by suspected gang member in El Sereno
A 21-year-old man was fatally shot after being confronted by a suspected gang member in a neighborhood northeast of downtown, authorities said Sunday. Raul Sanchez was walking with two other people in the 5300 block of Valley Boulevard in El Sereno about 12:20 a.m. Saturday when the shooting occurred, said Sally Madera, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. The gunman pulled up in a vehicle and asked Sanchez if he was in a gang, Madera said.
Los Angeles Times

Police respond to 2 disturbance calls in South L.A.; 4 arrested on gun charges: LAPD
Police responded to two separate disturbance calls in South L.A. Friday night and were searching for an armed man in relation to one incident, authorities said. A Los Angeles Police Department officer asked for assistance around 10 p.m. near South Main Street and West 74th Street, Officer Nuria Venegas said. It was unclear why the officer needed help, but police began searching for an armed man in the area.
KTLA

Bar owner fatally shot in South Los Angeles
The owner of a South Los Angeles bar who was shot to death outside his business Saturday evening was identified as a 48-year-old Hawthorne man. Officers responded to the shooting around 6:30 p.m. outside the Living Room Cocktails Bar near 28th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Keith Alan Hasson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the coroner's office.
NBC4

'Early warning systems' aim to ID troubled police officers
Police departments across the U.S. are using technology to try to identify problem officers before their misbehavior harms innocent people, embarrasses their employer or invites a costly lawsuit from citizens or from the federal government. While such "early warning systems" are often treated as a cure-all, experts say, little research exists on their effectiveness or if they're even being properly used.
Associated Press

DMV

DMV carries big bat in DUI arrests
Thuan Ha was arrested on drunken-driving charges but was never convicted of his DUI-related charge. The California Department of Motor Vehicles still suspended his driver's license for four months. How did that happen? An Orange County judge threw out Ha's DUI case, ruling officers had illegally obtained a test showing Ha's blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit. Yet a month later, a midlevel DMV employee suspended the Westminster resident's license based on the same evidence the courts rejected.
Orange County Register

Prison Realignment

Health costs for counties rise with influx of inmates
Since the state gave counties responsibility for incarcerating lower-level offenders three years ago, health care costs at county jails have gone up dramatically - and legal actions threaten to push them even higher. The state's 10 biggest counties spent $560 million on medical and psychological care for inmates last fiscal year, a 16 percent jump over the fiscal year that ended in 2011, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of data provided by the counties.
Sacramento Bee

Metrolink

Metrolink's annual ridership continues to drop
Once hailed as the fastest-growing commuter line in the nation, the railroad has seen its annual ridership drop by almost 595,000 passengers since 2008, with resulting losses in revenue. That and other factors have left the agency squeezed between trimming service or boosting fares, either of which could prompt more defections. Officials of the six-county system - covering a region of more than 20 million people - mostly blame the downturn on the worst recession since World War II, which decimated the region's workforce.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Supervisor Gloria Molina says she will seek Huizar's council seat
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina said Friday that she plans to challenge City Councilman Jose Huizar in next year's election, dramatically rearranging a contest that looked like an easy one for the incumbent. With less than three months before she is termed-out after serving more than two decades as a supervisor, Molina said she isn't ready to end her work as a public servant.
Los Angeles Times