Law Enforcement

LAPD Chief: "It's possible" criminal charges will be filed against Daniele Watts
The Los Angeles Police Department chief says criminal charges may be filed against actress Daniele Watts. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck left the door open for charging Watts with lewd conduct, a misdemeanor, during his regularly scheduled monthly appearance on KPCC's AirTalk with Larry Mantle . When asked by host Mantle if the police are weighing criminal charges against Watts, Beck answered: "It's possible."
The Hollywood Reporter

Activists want "Django Unchained" actress to apologize to LAPD about detention
It's a story that went viral -- Daniele Watts, a black actress claiming she was detained by the LAPD for kissing her white boyfriend in public. Civil rights advocates jumped to her defense, including Earl Ofari Hutchinson. "I was one that was very outspoken about it," he said. "We take racial profiling very seriously. It's not a play thing. It's not trivial." For that reason, he's now calling on Watts to apologize to the LAPD.
NBC4

$50,000 reward offered in hit-and-run that killed father
A $50,000 reward was announced Wednesday in the case of a hit-and-run crash that killed a father of two children in July. The crash that killed 45-year-old Javier Hernandez occurred at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in Koreatown. There have been no arrests in the nearly two-month investigation to find the driver who ran a red light, struck two vehicles and crashed into a group of people near a bus stop.
NBC4

LAPD seeks help identifying body
Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying a victim whose severely burned body was found by firefighters last Sunday after they extinguished a small brush fire in Koreatown. The fire was reported at approximately 9:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of South Harvard Blvd., in a residential neighborhood southeast of Western Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. Det. Mark Morgan, with the Los Angeles Police Department's West Bureau Homicide Unit, said the fire occurred in bushes on a landscaped slope between the sidewalk and residential properties. He described the area as a hill approximately 20 to 30 yards in length.
Park Labrea News

As manhunt continues, funeral service held for Pennsylvania state trooper killed in ambush
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Scranton on Thursday to honor Cpl. Bryon Dickson, the Pennsylvania state trooper shot and killed last week in an ambush that set off a large police manhunt. Even as police officers from across the country were arriving for Dickson's funeral, authorities continued to search for Eric Frein, 31, who has been charged with killing Dickson and seriously injuring Alex Douglass, 31, another trooper.
Washington Post

FBI said to begin tracking animal cruelty cases
The FBI will begin tracking animal cruelty cases just as they track other crimes, Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States said in a blog post Tuesday. Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said John Thompson with the National Sheriffs' Association told him that Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comer has signed off on including animal cruelty offenses in the Uniform Crime Report.
KING-TV Seattle

DMV

Why can't DMV charge right tax rate?
It's hard to imagine state regulators being nonchalant about private businesses that knowingly overcharged customers. Yet a member of a California tax agency is upset the state isn't doing more to stop its practice of knowingly overcharging some "customers" on the sales taxes they pay when they buy a used car or truck.
U-T San Diego

New Laws

Jerry Brown signs massage regulation bill
Gov. Jerry Brown has handed California cities some sought-after tools for controlling a massage industry boom. Cities and police officers have complained about a proliferation of massage parlors in recent years, saying the culprit was a 2008 law giving the nonprofit California Massage Therapy Council overriding authority for overseeing massage parlors. The issue was a priority for the League of California Cities.
Sacramento Bee

Jerry Brown signs film tax credit bill
Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday to more than triple California's film and television tax credit, a point of heavy lobbying by the state's TV and movie industry. Assembly Bill 1839 will expand to $330 million annually the state's existing $100 million tax credit. Brown and legislative leaders announced an agreement on the bill last month, and his signature was not in doubt.
Sacramento Bee

City Government

L.A. to re-examine regulations controlling city's taxi companies
In a push to level the playing field for taxi firms competing with new, app-based ride-sharing businesses, Los Angeles officials agreed Thursday to re-examine hundreds of regulations that control the city's nine licensed cab companies. At the urging of Mayor Eric Garcetti, the five members of the Board of Taxicab Commissioners said they would review a 64-page taxi rulebook with an eye toward scrapping some regulations and modifying others that put cabs at a competitive disadvantage.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. officials could gain time in office if election dates change
A proposal to boost voter turnout in Los Angeles by holding city elections at the same time as state and national contests could deliver a special benefit to elected city officials: 18 extra months in office. For months, civic leaders have pushed for city decision-makers to move their elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered ones.
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and city make it easier to install a solar energy system
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday that the Department of Building and Safety has developed a streamlined procedure to issue permits for residential solar systems, including making permits available online and having building inspectors verify the systems. "My back-to-basics agenda for Los Angeles is about reforming City Hall to make it easier for Angelenos to take action on our most important priorities - and installing solar panels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one my top priorities," Garcetti said in a statement.
Los Angeles Daily News