Law Enforcement

Two police officers 'simply assassinated' in Brooklyn
A man who posted anti-police rants online shot dead two New York City policemen as they sat in their patrol car Saturday, an attack that further shook a city where community-police relations have been tense following the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of cops. "They were quite simply assassinated — targeted for their uniform," Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said about five hours after the ambush in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn.
Los Angeles Times

NYC cop killer had criminal record and angry social media posts, police say
The man who shot and killed two New York City police officers as they sat in their patrol car had posted angry messages on social media, ranting against the government and police, New York Police Department's Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Sunday. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, also posted messages of self-loathing and despair and made reference online to Michael Brown and Eric Garner, African-American men who were killed by police.
CNN

Police Unions, Elected Leaders Point to Mayor Following Police Shooting
Already toxic, their relationship reached a new low Saturday: union leaders and officers turning their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio as he filed past them into a news conference on the killing of two police officers. “There's blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protest, that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did every day. We tried to warn, it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts on the steps of City Hall in the office of the mayor,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.
TWC News NY1

Cops across U.S. on high alert after NYPD executions
Tensions began rising between police officers nationwide and many in their communities this summer after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked sometimes violent demonstrations nationwide. The tensions grew after a grand jury declined to indict the officer in that case, as well as the officer in the case of Staten Island man Eric Garner, who died of a heart attack after being placed in a chokehold by a NYPD officer. Other deadly incidents between cops and unarmed offenders seemed to only deepen the divide between the sides, as the protests against police brutality continued to grow and spread.
CBS News

Raises for police would show L.A. has its priorities straight: Susan Shelley
The police have a difficult job, and it's not getting any easier. Thousands of state prison inmates have been released early and returned to the streets as a result of AB 109, the law passed in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that California's prisons were unconstitutionally overcrowded. More early releases are ahead under the terms of Proposition 47, a ballot initiative passed in November that reduces some felonies to misdemeanors. This isn't a game. Politicians who promised to protect public safety — that's all of them — should step up and make sure the LAPD has what it needs to recruit and retain top-quality officers. There's no higher priority.
Los Angeles Daily News

Detectives Seek Help Identifying 3 Men Accused Of Stealing Electronics From LA Stores
Detectives sought the public's help Friday in identifying three suspects accused of stealing electronics from mobile phone businesses on several occasions. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, two of the men were seen on surveillance video entering a store located in the 4300 block of Glencoe Avenue, where they used pliers to cut security wires off a display and fled with products.
CBS2

What police departments can learn about race relations from the LAPD
Earlier this month, former President Bill Clinton sat down for an interview with Juan Carlos López of CNN En Español. The conversation didn't get much play in the press, but one remark in particular was intriguing. Asked about the protests that consumed Ferguson, Mo., after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown, Clinton directed López's attention elsewhere: to the City of Angels.
Yahoo! News

Police get break in 'greatest' art heist in recent L.A. history, valued at $12 million
One of the biggest art heists in Los Angeles history began when a housekeeper left the home of an elderly bedridden couple. "There was a small window of opportunity for the crime to have occurred," Los Angeles Police art theft detective Don Hrycyk said Friday.
CNN

LAPD Investigating Shooting of Juvenile in Mar Vista Area, Suspect at Large
Los Angeles police set up a perimeter to search for a shooting suspect at Centinela Avenue and Washington Place on Friday. Authorities said the incident occurred shortly before 11:30 a.m. inside a building in the area. According to investigators, one person was struck by gunfire and transported to an area hospital. Witnesses reported they heard three gunshots and that the suspect might have thrown a gun into a trash can.
ABC7

Bandit Tow Trucks Are Basically Stealing Cars At The Scenes Of Fender Benders
Getting in a car wreck is already terrible, but now there's another thing to worry about: having your car towed by a bandit tow truck driver who will charge you thousands to get it back. Police are warning drivers in Los Angeles against the scam, LA Weekly reports, saying that they get as many as five calls a day about the issue.
laist

City Government

L.A. to review 'flawed and expensive' leave policy for injured workers
Los Angeles' top elected officials say reforms are needed in an unusually generous injury leave policy that pays city employees more when they are out with job-related ailments than when they come to work. The cost to taxpayers for injury leaves taken by custodians, gardeners, office managers and other non-public safety employees rose 50% in the five years that ended in January, to $18 million, The Times reported Friday.
Los Angeles Times

Immigration

Immigrants surge to get educated on driver's licenses under new law
Castrejon and many immigrants like her hope that will change starting Jan. 2, when a new state law — Assembly Bill 60 — takes effect. Under the law, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year, undocumented immigrants who can prove their identity and that they live in the state can visit a state Department of Motor Vehicles office and apply for a license.
Daily Breeze