Law Enforcement

NYPD commissioner: 'Many of the worst parts of black history would have been impossible without police'
New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke Tuesday morning in Jamaica, Queens, a community with a nonwhite majority. In his remarks, Bratton addressed racial tensions following the death of Eric Garner, which involved a chokehold by the police, among other recent events in New York City.
Business Insider

Man who died after struggle with LAPD officers suffered ‘emotional duress'
A 37-year-old man who died 12 hours after struggling with a pair of Los Angeles Police Department anti-gang officers died from the “effects of cocaine,” but he also suffered “physical and emotional duress” from his arrest, according to an autopsy released Tuesday. The autopsy of Omar Abrego, who died around 5:20 a.m. Aug. 3, was completed in October, but was not made public until Tuesday. His death has been cited by some activists as an example of excessive force by police.
mynewsLA.com , Los Angeles Times

Woman Waves Knives, Barricades Herself in Westlake
A woman barricaded herself in a Westlake building Tuesday afternoon and remained in a standoff with SWAT officers into the evening, according to LAPD. Around 11 a.m., the woman, believed to be in her 50s, became belligerent and began waving knives around, according to LAPD's media relations section.
NBC Los Angeles

8 Injured After Reckless Driving Suspect Crashed During Pursuit In South LA
Several adults and four children were injured Tuesday after a reckless driving suspect crashed during a pursuit in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles police officers began pursuing the 37-year-old suspect around 10:05 a.m. at 83rd Street and Vermont Avenue, officials said.
CBS Los Angeles

Party bus driver surrenders, accused of dragging pedestrian 200 feet
The driver of a party bus that struck a pedestrian and dragged him more than 200 feet surrendered to officials early Tuesday morning, authorities said. Tommy Anthony Gutierrez, 37, of City Terrace surrendered about 9 a.m. to detectives at the Los Angeles County sheriff's station in Norwalk, a day after investigators located the party bus, Det. Carl Anna said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Searching For Gunman In South LA Shooting
olice are investigating a shooting in South Los Angeles that left one person injured Tuesday. Officers responded to a call of shots fired at 115th near Main Street and were still searching for the gunman around 4 p.m.
CBS Los Angeles

Truck Driver Taken Into Custody on Suspicion of Felony Hit-and-Run in Metrolink Crash
Thirty people were hospitalized, several of them in critical condition, and the driver of a pickup truck that was struck by a Metrolink train was in police custody following a fiery wreck that caused several train cars to derail in Oxnard early Tuesday morning.The train slammed into the truck near the intersection of East Fifth Street and South Rice Avenue in Oxnard, an official with the Ventura County Fire Department said. A 911 call to police just before 5:45 a.m. reported the crash.
KTLA 5

Man Sought in Two Carjackings in San Bernardino Arrested After Pursuit in South L.A.
A man sought in connection with two carjackings in San Bernardino on Monday, including one involving a student at CSUSB, was arrested Tuesday after a pursuit in South Los Angeles. The suspect, identified as Julio Cesar Dela Luz, was arrested along with two females who were riding in a stolen 2003 Lexus, according to a news release from the San Bernardino Police Department.
KTLA 5

$3K Worth Of Camping Equipment Stolen From Fontana Boy Scout Troop
A Boy Scout group was hoping its community would help after thousands of dollars worth of camping equipment was stolen. On Feb. 19, Troop 2000's trailer filled with $3,000 worth of equipment was stolen from troop leader Eric Herchenroeder's Almeria Avenue driveway. “They pretty much cleaned us out,” Herchenroeder said. “Along the bottom shelves sit the large three-burner camp stoves. On the upper shelves sit the first aid kits, cooking equipment, lanterns.”
CBS Los Angeles

Thieves Steal Disabled Girl's Wheelchair From Outside Her Apple Valley Home
Thieves have stolen a disabled 5-year-old girl's wheelchair from outside her home in Apple Valley. Ileeya Tavera's beloved pink custom chair was taken from the family's unlocked truck, which was parked at the side of their house on the 20200 block of Serrano Road. Her mother Eileen Tavaera said she would have been using the chair extensively in the coming months due to a forthcoming operation on her hips, as her bones have not grown as doctors had hoped.
NBC Los Angeles

Immigration

L.A. supervisors OK help for immigrants under contested Obama plan
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to help eligible immigrants apply for President Obama's contested deferred action program, even as the fate of the president's signature immigration initiative remains unclear. On a 4-1 vote, the supervisors formed a task force to determine how the county can assist immigrants eligible for Obama's planned expansion of the program, which would offer temporary protection from deportation to an estimated 5 million immigrants in the country illegally.
Los Angeles Times

State/Federal Government

Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't seek U.S. Senate seat
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Tuesday that he won't run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Boxer. In a Facebook post, Villaraigosa wrote that his “heart and my family are here in California, not Washington, D.C.”
Los Angeles Daily News

Inaugural events for California legislative leaders cost the public at least $38,000
The California Senate used public funds to pay for at least $28,000 in travel expenses related to Senate leader Kevin de León's swearing-in ceremony in Los Angeles this fall. The Senate paid for at least 40 people – including some senators, staff members and security personnel – to travel to Los Angeles in mid-October, according to documents The Sacramento Bee obtained through a public records request. The expenses covered flights, hotel rooms, ground transportation and “per diem” payments for people attending the event de León billed as his inauguration.
Sacramento Bee

County Government

Los Angeles County supervisors vote to overhaul management structure
Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to reconfigure the governance structure of the county's top layer of management, a first step toward rolling back a 2007 decision that gave more power to the county's chief executive. The details of the new structure remain to be hashed out, but at least two of the five supervisors -- Mark Ridley-Thomas and Michael D. Antonovich -- want to return to a system in which most of the 37 department heads report directly to the elected board instead of to the county's chief executive.
Los Angeles Times