Law Enforcement

LAPD to Donate Over 1,000 Shoes to Underprivileged Children During ‘Operation Shoes from Santa'
In preparation for Tuesday's “Operation Shoes from Santa” event, the Los Angeles Police Department was accepting donation's that were expected to benefit over 1,000 South L.A. children. The LAPD's 77th division posted this flyer on Facebook for the second-annual "Operation Shoes from Santa" event, scheduled for Dec. 9, 2014. The LAPD's 77th division posted this flyer on Facebook for the second-annual “Operation Shoes from Santa” event, scheduled for Dec. 9, 2014. Those interested in donating a new pair of shoes to the second-annual event could visit the LAPD's 77th Street Community Police Station, located at 7600 South Broadway (map), according to a department Facebook post.
KTLA5

Transgender Woman Killed During Robbery, Police Not Calling Shooting Hate Crime
A transgender woman was shot and killed during a robbery Wednesday morning in South Los Angeles, police said. Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department aren't yet ready to call Deshawnda Sanchez's shooting a hate crime, however, according to LAPD Capt. Chris Barling.
NBC4

Name of Man Fatally Shot in Hollywood by Police Being Withheld
Authorities Sunday were withholding the name of a man who allegedly wielded a knife before he was fatally shot by police officers at a busy Hollywood intersection, as witness statements emerged that the man was street performer who would scare people while portraying a horror movie character. The shooting happened about 7 p.m. at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue after officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles Daily News

Protestors Block Hollywood Intersection Where Man Killed by LAPD
Hundreds of people shut down a busy Hollywood intersection today during a protest against the police and the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of officers in Los Angeles, New York and Ferguson. The protest, which organizers dubbed “BlackOutHollywood Against Police Brutality,” began at noon at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue.
Los Angeles Daily News

Surveillance Video Shows Thief Taking UPS Package From Front Porch of Venice Residence: LAPD
A man who recently stole a UPS package from a Venice resident's front porch was captured on a surveillance camera committing the crime, the Los Angeles Police Department said Saturday. Video from a home security system showed a man walking up to the victim's front porch on Tuesday, taking the package and then walking away with the box, according to an LAPD news release.
KTLA5

LAPD Finds That Patrol Car Dash Cameras Are No Panacea
The LAPD has already installed patrol car cameras in the South Bureau and is now deploying them in Central Bureau. They also plan to deploy body cameras on patrol officers in the New Year. It's been a learning process for the LAPD. “It was a change in culture. It was a big change in the organization,” said Commander William Scott, assistant commanding officer of South Bureau. In April, the LAPD inspector general found officers in the Southeast division had removed antennas from the dash cam video systems, ruining the quality of the audio recorded.
KPCC

LAPD Detectives Meet With Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Accuser
Los Angeles Police Department detectives met Friday with a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by embattled comedian and actor Bill Cosby at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was 15. Judy Huth, who filed a lawsuit against Cosby on Tuesday, met detectives at the LAPD's downtown headquarters to request an investigation of Cosby, attorney Gloria Allred said. Allred and her law firm were not involved in the filing of the civil suit. No additional information about the meeting was available, said Officer Jane Kim of the LAPD's Media Relations Section.
Santa Monica Mirror

City Government

Report Lays Bare Mayor Garcetti's Tech Hurdles
The city of Los Angeles' computer data networks are so overloaded and reliant on “obsolete” technology that outages will occur at an increasing pace, affecting taxpayers, a recently released report concludes. Faced with a lack of funding and a dwindling number of employees, the city's approach to technology is simply “keeping the lights on,” rather than innovation, the report states. El Segundo-based consulting firm Avasant was hired to analyze the city's technology services. The firm studied the city's computer networks, phone and radio systems, and applications such as payroll and internal employee records.
The Daily Breeze

Op-Ed: Labor's New Reality -- It's Easier to Raise Wages for 100,000 Than to Unionize 4,000
Haltingly, with understandable ambivalence, the American labor movement is morphing into something new. Its most prominent organizing campaigns of recent years — of fast-food workers, domestics, taxi drivers and Wal-Mart employees — have prompted states and cities to raise their minimum wage and create more worker-friendly regulations. But what these campaigns haven't done is create more than a small number of new dues-paying union members. Nor, for the foreseeable future, do unions anticipate that they will.
Los Angeles Times

Familiar Faces Amid Los Angeles County's Changing of the Guard
Last week's swearing-in of new county officials has been billed as a changing of the guard. But it's actually more like an existing team getting new uniforms. Supervisor Hilda Solis has named Peter Hong, who once worked for Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, as her chief of staff. And Supervisor Sheila Kuehl's staff relies heavily on people who worked for her predecessor, Zev Yaroslavsky — starting with her chief of staff, Lisa Mandel.
Los Angeles Daily News

Ex-L.A. Councilman Alarcon Avoids Jail, Gets 51 Days of House Arrest
Los Angeles politician Richard Alarcon showed up Friday afternoon to begin his jail sentence but was sent home right away. Instead of serving a 120-day jail sentence for his perjury and voter fraud convictions, the former L.A. city councilman was placed under house arrest for 51 days, said sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. She said Alarcon was fitted with an electronic monitoring device Friday.
Los Angeles Times

Immigration

Anti-illegal Immigration Activists Look Beyond California for Action
For years, Raul Rodriguez Jr. would let out an exasperated sigh, then move on, whenever he read or heard news about illegal immigration. But something clicked last summer when he saw reports of multitudes of Central Americans illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. "I've got to do something," Rodriguez, 72, said he told himself. "I've got to get off the couch and need to get people involved." Rodriguez crafted signs denouncing illegal immigration for various rallies, including one in Murrieta a few days after busloads of Central American detainees were turned back amid vocal protests.
Los Angeles Times