Law Enforcement

High Praise for LA Law Enforcement from FBI Director
The top man at the Federal Bureau of Investigation met the press Tuesday to talk about his visit to Los Angeles. FBI director James Comey had high praise for the way LA law enforcement interacts with the community. Comey says an advance meeting with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Sheriff Jim McDonnell helped shape his opinion about LA's progress in community relations.
KABC

LAPD Officers Pursue Reckless Driver With Flat Tire Through South LA
A reckless driver leads police on a chase through south LA this morning. It started around 5:20am Wednesday morning in the area around 108th Street and Avalon Blvd. Police noticed the driver moving erratically through the neighborhood and tried to pull him over, but he kept going - mostly staying in the same area.
MyfoxLA.com

Family of man slain by police on skid row files $20-million claim
The family of a Cameroonian man fatally shot by police on skid row filed a $20-million claim against the city Wednesday, saying officers "initiated" a struggle that ended in a "cop-created killing." Charly Leundeu Keunang's sister, Line Foming, and their parents, Heleine Tchayou and Isaac Keunang, accuse the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department and its officers of excessive force, assault and battery, wrongful death and constitutional violations.
Los Angeles Times

LMU Offers $20,000 Reward for Arrest, Conviction of Man Who Raped Student at Off-Campus Party
Nearly six months after an LMU student was raped at an off-campus Halloween party, the university has offered a $20,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of the assailant, school officials recently said.
KTLA 5

Authorities: No Obvious Signs of Trauma Found on Body Tentatively ID'd As Erica Alonso
An autopsy conducted Wednesday on a body discovered in a remote area off Ortega Highway near Mission Viejo showed no obvious signs of trauma, authorities said. The body was tentatively identified Tuesday as that of Erica Alonso, a Laguna Hills woman who disappeared more than two months ago.
KTLA 5

MISSING: 66-Year-Old Vet With PTSD in Los Angeles
A 66-year-old man diagnosed with dementia, diabetes, and post-traumatic stress disorder went missing Tuesday near downtown Los Angeles. Cecil Tyrone Whitson was last seen about 11:30 a.m. near Eighth Street and Union Avenue, according to Los Angeles Police Department detective Alma Mercado of the Missing Persons Unit.
Eagle Rock Patch

How much has L.A. really changed since the 1992 riots?
Los Angeles' recovery from the 1992 riots has been slow and uneven. The unrest, which killed 53 people and injured 2,300 others, exposed racial tensions, economic inequities and institutional dysfunction. Now, 23 years later, there have been tangible gains. The LAPD, once a predominantly white institution distrusted in non-white communities, now more closely reflects the city's demographics. The force is majority non-white, both in its patrol ranks and management. Relations with minorities communities have improved.
Los Angeles Times

Second straight LAFD recruit class is all male after women exit
All female recruits have been eliminated from the Los Angeles Fire Department training class set to graduate next month, dealing a setback to Mayor Eric Garcetti's drive to increase the number of women in the agency's ranks. Last December, four women were among the 43 recruits picked to enter the grueling boot camp required to become a city firefighter. All four have left, city officials say, putting the department on track to graduate its second consecutive all-male class.
Los Angeles Times

Teen pulled from rubble 5 days after Nepal quake; LAFD plays role in rescue
With the help of Los Angeles firefighters, rescuers Thursday pulled a teenage boy from the wreckage of a nine-story Katmandu hotel that collapsed around him five days ago when an enormous earthquake shook Nepal. Pemba Lama, 15, was carried out on a stretcher, his face covered in dust.
Los Angeles Times

Baltimore

Baltimore Police Won't Make Report on Freddie Gray's Death Public
Baltimore police said Wednesday that their internal report into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who died in police custody this month, wouldn't be made public. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts had set a deadline of Friday to file the report with state investigators, leading to hopes among activists and Gray's family that more details of his death from a spinal injury would emerge. Investigators haven't said how Gray was injured.
NBC News

Baltimore Death Sparks Protests in NYC, Boston
Hundreds of people rallied and marched in New York and Boston to protest the death of a Baltimore man who was critically injured in police custody as Philadelphia activists prepared for their own demonstration. More than 100 people were arrested in New York on Wednesday night after police on a loudspeaker warned them they would be taken into custody if they marched in the street.
Officer.com