Law Enforcement

LAPD Encourages Public To Become Foster, Adoptive Parents
Officer Deandre James grew up in Los Angeles County's foster care system. On Wednesday, he took part in a presentation at the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in downtown Los Angeles encouraging officers and civilians to become foster or adoptive parents. "I was given a chance through the foster system to do something great and be here," James said.
ABC 7

Woman Found Dead Near LAPD Station In Pacoima
Authorities say an investigation is underway in Pacoima after a body was found near an LAPD station.Police said a call came in about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday of a female victim with stab wounds. The body was discovered in a parking lot on Osborne Street near San Fernando Road.
CBS Los Angeles

Police swarm Downtown L.A. as LAPD facilitates meeting with 'convicted criminal'
The president of the Los Angeles Police Commission called for an investigation late Wednesday into the decision to use LAPD resources to arrange a downtown meeting between a convicted ex-member of the Mexican Mafia, a group of business leaders and local police chiefs. From about noon until the evening, police secured a section of downtown L.A. near Spring and 6th streets, where the meeting took place. Unmarked sedans dropped off uniformed officers who filed into the building. Later, a bomb squad vehicle briefly stopped outside.
LA Times

LAPD Seeks Public's Help In Locating Missing Woman, 65
Authorities Wednesday asked for the public's help in locating a missing 65-year-old woman.Yvonne Gomes English was last seen about 4:30 p.m. at 19447 Victory Boulevard, according to a written statement by the LAPD, West Valley division.
CBS Los Angeles

What's the Difference Between a Bullet and a Car?' Asks Mother of Teen Killed in Hit-and-Run
A 17-year-old girl who was struck by a hit-and-run driver in the Hyde Park neighborhood died Wednesday morning and a man turned himself in later in the day, Los Angeles police said. The victim, identified by a cousin as Reanna Goss, washit about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday near 48th Street and Nine Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
KTLA5

Twin Brothers Charged With Capital Murder For Fatally Stabbing Woman, Stealing Her Purse
Twin brothers were charged with capital murder Wednesday in the fatal stabbing of a 62-year-old woman who was robbed while walking home from the grocery store in South Los Angeles just days before Christmas. Kenyata and Keishon Blake, 18, were each charged with one count of murder and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
KTLA5

Fresno Police Have Remarkable 2014: Lower Officer Shootings, Public Complaints
As the nation faced a wave of protests against police, Fresno's Police Department saw a dramatic drop in the number of officer-involved shootings and use-of-force complaints in 2014, according to the city's police auditor Richard Rasmussen this week. Rasmussen's fourth quarter of 2014 report found a 27% drop in officer-involved shootings, a 29% drop in complaints about excessive use-of-force and a 16% drop in overall complaints of a serious nature, when compared with 2013.
BreitBart

Authorities release sketches of suspects in double homicide
Los Angeles County detectives Wednesday released sketches of two men believed to be involved in a May 2014 double killing in unincorporated Rancho Dominguez. Childhood friends Jason Piña, 20, and Omar Williams, 18, were in a light-colored compact car going south in the 17600 block of South Santa Fe Avenue about 4:30 p.m. May 5 when a large dark-colored SUV pulled up and a person inside fired at the two, sheriff's officials said.
LA Times

City Government

VA To Build Housing For Homeless Vets At West LA Campus
More homeless veterans in Los Angeles may soon have a roof over their heads after federal officials unveiled a plan Wednesday to build housing at the Veterans Affairs campus in West Los Angeles.The plan comes as the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit in which the ACLU accused the Department of Veterans Affairs of misusing its sprawling health campus at 11301 Wilshire Blvd. while veterans with brain injuries and mental impairment slept in the streets.
CBS Los Angeles