Law Enforcement

LAPD often deploys fewer patrol officers than needed, review finds
The number of police officers patrolling some of Los Angeles' most crime-ridden areas routinely falls short of the Police Department's staffing needs, according to an internal report reviewed by The Times. The confidential report on the five stations in LAPD's Central Bureau, which includes the Rampart, Hollenbeck and Newton divisions, found there were often fewer officers patrolling streets than the number called for by the department's computer-generated deployment plan.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD: CSUN student killed after trying to sell car on Craigslist
Los Angeles police alleged Monday that a 28-year-old man fatally stabbed a Cal State Northridge student who went missing more than a month ago after trying to sell his luxury car on Craigslist. Agustin Fernandez of Long Beach, was charged Monday with one count of murder in the death of Abdullah Alkadi, a 23-year-old electrical engineering student who disappeared from his Northridge home Sept. 17.
Los Angeles Times

Man shot to death in Echo Park
A man was shot and fatally wounded Monday morning in an Echo Park neighborhood, a police sergeant said. The shooting occurred just after midnight in front of 910 East Edgeware Rd., said Sgt. Herb Chang of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Station. Arriving officers found the man down with gunshot wounds to his torso, Chang said.
City News Service

2 wounded in Leimert Park shooting
Two men were shot and wounded outside a home in the Leimert Park area, it was reported Monday. The shooting occurred near 11th Avenue and Stocker Street about 7:35 p.m. Sunday, a news videographer reported from the scene. Two men who appeared to be in their 50s were transported to a hospital, each with an apparent arm wound, he said.
City News Service

2 wounded in Arlington Heights drive-by shooting
Two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Arlington Heights area, a police sergeant said Monday. It happened about 9:50 p.m. Sunday in front of 1829 South Gramercy Place, Los Angeles police Sgt. Dominic Countes said. A man driving northbound on Gramercy Place in a dark-colored four-door sedan fired four shots at two men, wounding one man in the right thigh, Countes said.
City News Service

Search shifts after ambush suspect likely spotted
Police shifted their search and a northeastern Pennsylvania school district tightened security Monday after the suspect in a deadly police ambush was believed to have been spotted near one of its campuses. A woman out for a walk Friday night saw a rifle-toting man with a mud-covered face near Pocono Mountain East High School in Swiftwater. State police believe the man was Eric Frein, who has eluded capture for more than a month despite an intense manhunt in the Pocono Mountains.
AP

Proposition 47

Prop. 47 will make Californians less safe: Dianne Feinstein
Supporters of Proposition 47 call it the "Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act." In truth, it will do anything but make our communities safer. Prop. 47 would do two things. First, it would reclassify a wide range of crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor. This would mean shorter prison sentences for serious crimes like stealing firearms, identity theft and possessing dangerous narcotics such as cocaine and date rape drugs. Second, Prop. 47 would result in the resentencing and release of thousands of individuals already convicted of these crimes.
Los Angeles Daily News LAPPL Blog

Courts

Supreme Court will decide privacy case on hotel records
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a dispute over police access to hotels' guest information without first getting a search warrant. The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to open their guest registries at the demand of police. The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordinance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests.
AP

City Government

Ban on GMO plants advances at L.A. City Hall
Citing environmental and health concerns, a panel of Los Angeles lawmakers Monday threw their support behind a citywide ban on growing genetically modified crops. The ban would be "largely symbolic," said Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, who co-authored the proposal, because there's limited agriculture in the city. But it would send a "clear signal that in Los Angeles we want to return to GMO-free food," he said in an interview.
Los Angeles Times