Law Enforcement

LAPD's North Hollywood Community Police Station briefly evacuated
The Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Community Police Station was briefly evacuated and a freeway off-ramp closed because of a suspicious package Thursday night. The station was evacuated for an hour, and the Burbank Boulevard off-ramp from the northbound 170 Freeway was closed after the discovery of the package around 9:25 p.m. in the station's parking lot, LAPD Sgt. William Mann said. The package turned out to be a trashbag filled with leaves, Mann said, and the evacuation order was lifted at 10:25 p.m. The off-ramp re-opened around 11:10 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Police Warn Sherman Oaks Residents Of Dramatic Increase In Burglaries
Police are warning Sherman Oaks residents of a dramatic increase in burglaries. Officials have mapped out an area of concern between the 405 Freeway and Coldwater Canyon Avenue and said most of the crimes are happening during the day. Thursday night, police met with dozens of residents about the spike in burglaries over the past year. “We had a 240 percent increase,” Anthony Cabunoc, the senior lead officer for the LAPD, said. “I don't have any factors to say why it's happening.” Police said many of the cases involved so-called knock-knock burglaries, where suspects knock on the front-door of a home, and if no one answers, proceed to the back and break-in. “It's a community where folks are running their days and their errands and so on and they're out of the house,” Cabunoc said. Meanwhile, homeowners say they've become more vigilant and are stepping up security.
CBS Los Angeles

Police advocates: Ambush shooting in Ferguson part of disturbing trend
Two police officers shot and wounded while standing guard outside the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department early Thursday were deliberately targeted in what a police official called an "ambush."Such ambush-style attacks were the leading circumstance in the surging number of shooting deaths of law enforcement officers, according to the nonprofit, Washington-based National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
CNN

'Dead cops ... that's what they want,' says police union's Jeff Roorda
A prominent St. Louis police union official called for a curfew in Ferguson, Mo., after two police officers were shot and wounded early Thursday during a demonstration outside the Ferguson Police Department, saying protesters "want cops dead." "Dead cops, dead cops. That's what they want," former Democratic state Rep. Jeff Roorda, of the St. Louis Police Officers Assn., said of Ferguson demonstrators on Fox News on Thursday, as reported by website Mediaite.
Los Angeles Times

Police Shooting Statistics Show Officers Are Often Victims Too
Two officers were shot early Thursday morning in Ferguson, Mo., which has once again become ground zero for police-involved shootings. The incident took place in front of police headquarters, where community members gathered to protest the Justice Department's report that questioned police tactics following Michael Brown's death. USA Today says no suspect is in custody and the officers are expected to recover, but the events are a reminder that police, like Ferguson's, can be shooting victims, and fatalities can also come from the ones in uniform.
Bustle

Deputies Arrest Student Suspected of Making High School Shooting Threat
A high school student was arrested Thursday morning in connection with a school shooting threat against a neighboring Los Angeles County high school, authorities said. Extra school security was sent to monitor Lawndale High School after someone threatened on social media that a shooting would take place Thursday, sheriff's depuities said. A Leuzinger High School student was arrested in connection with the threat on the nearby school.
NBC Los Angeles Times

U.S. citizen says sheriff's deputies threatened him with deportation
A U.S. citizen who said he was threatened with deportation while detained in jail has settled a claim with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Diego Rojas, 18, was arrested last May and taken to Los Angeles County's Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Los Angeles Times

State audit faults evaluations of sexually violent predators
The state auditor released a report Thursday criticizing the Department of State Hospitals' evaluation system for determining whether prisoners due for parole or psychiatric patients being held at Coalinga State Hospital are sexually violent predators.The audit found that evaluations of current and potential "SVPs" are inconsistent, and that there is no standard protocol used to determine whether those being assessed meet the criteria for confinement. The audit also found that evaluators lack clinical supervision and training, and that Coalinga has a "significant backlog" of annual evaluations that violates the rights of patients.
Los Angeles Times

Victim of Malibu hit-and-run identified
The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has identified the 21-year old woman killed on her 21st birthday in a Malibu hit-and-run as Melanie Citalli Quinonez of Panorama City. She died from a traumatic blunt force head injury, and the coroner has ruled her death an accident, Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner spokesman Craig Harvey said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Canoga Park man charged after boy, 9, brings loaded handgun to Tarzana school
A Canoga Park man faces jail time after a 9-year-old boy brought a semi-automatic handgun to a Tarzana elementary school last week. Officials allege that Aaron Martin, 41, lived with the young boy and kept loaded firearms in the residence. Martin failed to properly store the gun, and it was carried to school, they noted.
Los Angeles Daily News

Man who allegedly tried to run over South Gate Police officers shot to death
A man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in South Gate and another was taken into custody, authorities said today. A Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detective said the shooting involved the South Gate Police Department and that the sheriff's homicide division was handling the investigation. The suspect was shot after trying to run over South Gate officers, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles Daily News