Law Enforcement

Photos: LAPD foot patrols
LAPD officers Norma Perez, left, and Eric Perez talk with a mariachi musician while walking a foot beat along Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights on May 14, 2015. The veteran officers were hand-picked for the assignment, which is an effort by the LAPD to establish relation-based policing practices in the city.
Los Angeles Times

Marijuana Burglars Caught On Video
Security video released this week by the Los Angeles Police Department shows a pair of bandits going through those familiar motions. They enter and one man jumps behind the display cases, grabs the loot and shoves it toward his partner, who holds a black bag open for the goods. The burglary was reported at 3 a.m. May 3 in the 5700 block of Manchester Avenue, according to LAPD's Pacific Division. That block is in Westchester. Anyone with information on these two suspects was asked to call detectives at 310-482-6367.
LA Weekly

Search Continues For Rape Suspect In LA
Police Tuesday continued to search for a 35-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in her home. Around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, the victim was sleeping in her bedroom, located in the 1800 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, when an unknown man forced his way through the living room window. The suspect then entered the victim's bedroom, removed his clothing, and jumped on top of the woman. As she screamed and struggled, the suspect removed her clothing, and had sexual intercourse with the victim against her will.
CBS Los Angeles

Detectives looking for suspects in firebombing that killed three
Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives Tuesday asked for help finding three additional suspects they say threw firebombs into a South El Monte tire shop last month, setting off a massive inferno that killed three teenagers. Authorities are asking for help locating German Monrreal, 19; Mario Godina, 19; and Estavan Castillo, 20. Detectives in the case will be submitting evidence to prosecutors to charge the trio with murder later Tuesday, said Sheriff's Lt. Victor Lewandowski.
Los Angeles Times

14-Year-Old Girl Disappears After Leaving John Muir High School In Pasadena
A 14-year-old girl who walked away from her high school in Pasadena remains missing on Tuesday. Talya Thompson was last seen leaving the campus of John Muir High School around 11 a.m. Friday. The girl's parents reported her missing on Sunday. Thompson was described as approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 170 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. No further information was available. Anyone with information is urged to call the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241.
ABC7

CHP to boost motorcycle safety patrols on 405, 2, 110 freeways
Some of the worst freeways for motorcycle accidents — including the 405 — will get extra patrols from California Highway Patrol officers. The CHP announced Monday it is increasing motorcycle safety patrols on State Route 2, and interstates 110 and 405 throughout Los Angeles County. The effort begins Saturday. The patrols coincide with Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in California .
Los Angeles Daily News

Privacy often trumps transparency with police shooting videos
Across the country, law enforcement agencies are equipping police and patrol cars with cameras to capture interactions between officers and the public. But many of those police forces, like Gardena's, do not release the recordings to the public, citing concerns about violating the privacy of officers and others shown in the recordings and the possibility of interfering with investigations. That approach has drawn criticism from some civil rights activists who say that the public release of recordings is crucial to holding police accountable — especially if the officers involved in the incidents are allowed to view the videos.
Los Angeles Times

Obama signs 'Blue Alert' law to protect police
President Obama has signed into law a measure that will require instant nationwide "Blue Alerts" to warn about threats to police officers and help track down the suspects who carry them out. The Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015 is named for the two New York Police Department officers killed in an ambush attack last December. The assailant, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, had shot his girlfriend earlier in the day, and then threatened on his Instagram account to kill police officers in retaliation for the recent police killings in Ferguson, Mo. and New York City. But that information never made it to New York.
USA Today

Final Report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing Released
President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing released its final, 116-page report on Monday after six months of work. On December 18, 2014, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The Task Force Members sought expertise from stakeholders and input from the public as they worked to identify best practices and make recommendations to the President. The Task Force submitted an initial report to the President on March 2, 2015 and released the final report on May 18, 2015.
Police Magazine

Lawmaker says government should pay to equip police with body cameras
Law enforcement agencies around the country should buy body cameras for their officers rather than wait for Congress to provide the funding, Sen. Tim Scott said Tuesday. The South Carolina Republican, whose hometown of North Charleston was the scene of an April 4 incident in which a white police officer was recorded fatally shooting an unarmed black man after a traffic stop, said he's working on legislation to provide federal money for the cameras. Until then, he said, cities and counties would be wise to buy their own to protect police and the public.
USA Today

1 dead, 2 officers hurt in Va. police-involved shooting
A male suspect is dead after a police-involved shooting in a Northern Virginia suburb Tuesday, Arlington County police said. A police official said the Asian male suspect died after receiving a gunshot wound to the chest. A woman and two police officers also were injured in the incident in Arlington County, Va.
USA Today

City Government

In Minimum Wage Battle, Garcetti And Organized Labor Rarely Saw Eye-To-Eye
Mayor Eric Garcetti can rightly take credit for the city's $15 minimum wage, which the L.A. City Council approved today. In his two years in office, no other initiative has had such a sweeping impact. It will dramatically change the way business is done in the city, raising wages for nearly 1 million people. In pushing for the wage increase, Garcetti often found himself at odds with Rusty Hicks, the executive secretary-treasurer of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Both shared the same goal — lifting low-wage workers out of poverty. But they had different ideas on how to get there. The final version of the ordinance was shaped in large measure by the tension between the two.
LA Weekly, NPR

Outsider David Ryu Wins LA City Council District 4 Runoff
Self-proclaimed political outsider David Ryu defeated Carolyn Ramsay in the race to be the new District 4 representative on the Los Angeles City Council. Community health administrator Ryu received 53.85 percent of the vote to 46.14 for Ramsay with all 113 precincts reporting, according to unofficial results released by the City Clerk's office.
NBC Los Angeles, KPCC, Los Angeles Times