Law Enforcement

Help Keep a Convicted Cop Killer Behind Bars
Public safety should always come first and that includes the safety of the peacekeepers of Los Angeles. On Friday, February 13, 2015, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) will consider the parole for Raylene Brooks, the driver in the drive-by shooting that killed LAPD Officer Daniel Pratt in 1988. The League, along with numerous other law enforcement agencies and associations, have sent letters of opposition, but we need everyone to speak out. This vicious murderer has not yet fully paid her debt to society and should receive the maximum term of her sentence. We must send a clear message that murder of police officers is unacceptable and all those who are found guilty must be dealt the harshest possible punishment under the law.
LAPD.com

Demonstrators Angry over Shootings Address L.A. Police Commission
An otherwise routine Los Angeles Police Commission meeting Tuesday was punctuated by anger from dozens of demonstrators, part of ongoing protests against the LAPD after recent officer-involved deaths. The weekly meetings of the civilian board that oversees the LAPD are attended primarily by top brass and some rank-and-file officers. But on Tuesday, protesters packed the room, demanding everything from greater transparency to complete civilian control over the LAPD.
Los Angeles Times , CBS Los Angeles

Notable Developments in Tensions Between Police, Communities
The killings of two unarmed black men by white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City this summer touched off protests and a national debate over police conduct that intensified after grand juries declined to indict the officers. Tensions escalated further after two New York Police Department officers were killed last month by a man who suggested in online posts their slayings were in retaliation for the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, and of Eric Garner in New York. The gunman, who was black, committed suicide.
ABC News

Column 'Broken Windows' Policing isn't broken, Says Criminologist George L. Kelling
It was a simple, potent idea: a broken window, left unrepaired, invites disorder. Criminologist George L. Kelling and the late James Q. Wilson published their “broken windows” theory 33 years ago. It was taken up by major police departments, including the LAPD, as part of community policing. It called for police and community engagement to prevent local crime, down to petty offenses, and to create order as an end in itself. The mechanism was interrupting minor offenses before they could snowball and open the door to serious, perhaps violent crime. Now, since fatal police encounters with black men in Missouri and New York began with small offenses — walking in the street, selling untaxed cigarettes — there have been calls to end “broken windows” policing. But Kelling, an emeritus professor at Rutgers University and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, says “broken windows” still works.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell Looking to Change Jails Staffing
With about a month on the job, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said this week he is actively looking at a plan that would reduce or eliminate the need for new deputies to work in the jails as a way to improve recruitment and reduce violence. “We are rethinking our policies,” McDonnell said during radio program Tuesday morning. “We are looking at a dual track system where we recruit and hire deputies who want to be in the custody division rather than hire everyone to be field deputies and employ them in the jails.”
Los Angeles Daily News

LA Communities See Spike in Home Burglaries
Residents were warned Tuesday to be on alert as police have recorded a spike in the last month in burglaries in Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Echo Park. Some 60 residential and 10 commercial buildings have been burglarized in the area and thieves are targeting electronics and jewelry from homes, authorities said. "People are locking and closing their doors and coming home and noticing windows and doors open and property ransacked inside," said LAPD Detective Mike Bland.
NBC Los Angeles

Los Angeles Police Recover Stolen O.J. Simpson Heisman Trophy
Los Angeles police have recovered a stolen Heisman Trophy honoring retired American football star O.J. Simpson that had been missing for over 20 years, officials said on Tuesday. The trophy, stolen from the University of Southern California campus in July 1994, was recovered by LAPD detectives on Dec. 16, police said in a statement.
Reuters , ABC News

Vigil Pleads For Help In South L.A. Hit-And-Run Death Of Mother Of 2
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday evening for a South Los Angeles mother killed in a hit-and-run accident over the weekend. Loved ones of Treva Arnold, 39, gathered in front of her home asking for the public's help and praying for justice.
CBS Los Angeles

Public's Help Sought Locating Man Wanted In Killings Of Elderly Couple
Homicide detectives are seeking the public's help in their search for a man wanted in the double murder of an elderly couple last month. Shirley Isom and her husband Armie “Troy” Isom were discovered Dec. 26 at their home in the 300 block of Roughrider Road in the unincorporated La Verne area of Los Angeles County.
CBS Los Angeles

Caught on Video: ‘Vicious' Robber Attacks Lone Women in Koreatown Apartment Elevators
A series of four robberies and assaults that victimized Korean women in Koreatown-area apartment building elevators prompted Los Angeles police Tuesday to ask for help finding the man they believe is behind the attacks. A still from a video released by LAPD on Jan. 6, 2015, shows a violent robbery in a Koreatown-area apartment building. A still from a video released by LAPD on Jan. 6, 2015, shows a violent robbery in a Koreatown-area apartment building. The incidents occurred between Nov. 9 and Dec. 30 and follow and similar outline: a Hispanic male followed a lone Korean woman into an elevator, assaulted her and robbed her.
KTLA5

City Government

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Touts Record Traffic Arriving at LAX, Growth in Tourism
Passenger volume at Los Angeles International Airport set an all-time high in 2014, fueled by a fourth-straight year of record tourism in a region that finally appears to be bouncing back from the recession. At a news conference Tuesday at LAX, city officials said 43.4 million visitors to Los Angeles arrived by plane in 2014. In total, 71 million passengers came through the airport last year, beating the 67.3 million record in 2000.
Daily Breeze

State Government

A Look at New Members of Congress from California
Here are the new members of California's delegation who were sworn into office Tuesday as members of the 114th Congress. 11th Congressional District — Mark DeSaulnier, 62, Democrat from Concord. DeSaulnier had a long history in local and state politics before winning office to succeed the retiring George Miller. He owned several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area before serving in the California Legislature and has run numerous marathons. 25th Congressional District — Steve Knight, 48, Republican from Palmdale. Knight served in the U.S. Army and then as a police officer in Los Angeles for more than 18 years before being elected to serve on the Palmdale City Council and subsequently to the California Legislature as an assemblyman and then as a senator.
Monterey Herald