Law Enforcement

Putting officer-involved shootings in perspective: Part II
In this post, we will look at two movements in society we believe are greatly increasing the pressure on police officers as we work to ensure the safety of the community. We are also addressing, again, the use of Hayes v. County of San Diego by the Police Commission. We simply cannot let this stand, and the City and public must understand why.
LAPD.com

One year later: Ezell Ford's officer-involved shooting death under review
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said the union supported Beck's findings that both officers involved in the shooting were justified and their actions were in policy. “Chief Beck's findings were based on facts presented and his over 40 years of law enforcement,” Lally said in a statement released after the police commission's decision. “Every day, LAPD officers are put directly in harm's way as they face complex situations, unthinkable dangers and split-second decisions all in an effort to protect the citizens of Los Angeles. On the other hand, we are extremely disappointed in the findings of the Police Commission.”
MyNewsLA.com

'Dodging Bullets': 50 Years After Watts Riots, Residents Remember The Chaos
Fifty years after the mayhem subsided, residents of Watts still remember dodging bullets and watching their community in chaos during the 1965 riots that left an area of Los Angeles in shambles. The riots started after Marquette Frye was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving by a white California Highway Patrolman. The chaos that followed the violent incident between onlookers and police at the scene of Frye's arrest cost more than $40 million in property damage, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library.”
NBC Los Angeles

Jury rejects negligence lawsuit against LAPD in shooting
A Los Angeles jury unanimously rejected a lawsuit by the family of a 21-year-old man who was shot and killed by an LAPD officer in 2010, dismissing claims that improper tactics used by officers led to the shooting. The lawsuit alleged that officers were negligent in their response to a 911 call for assistance by the family of Oscar Morales, 21, who was suicidal and had just returned to his home from a so-called 5150 hold, a forced 72-hour detention of those who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Los Angeles Times

Homicide Detectives Investigate Shooting Death Of Man In Compton
Homicide detectives on Thursday investigated the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a man in Compton. Shortly after 3 a.m., deputies were sent to the area of East 134th Street at Alameda Street for report of a shooting, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Upon their arrival, authorities pronounced an adult man dead at the scene. Anyone with information about this incident has been urged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
CBS Los Angeles

Woman killed by LAPD after robbery reported in South L.A.
Los Angeles police shot and killed a woman Wednesday afternoon in South L.A. after officers received a report of a robbery, officials said. The incident unfolded about 1:40 p.m., when officers from the LAPD's Southwest Division went to a pharmacy in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw neighborhood that had been robbed, Det. Meghan Aguilar said. Someone at the pharmacy, located in the 3700 block of Santa Rosalia Drive, described the female suspect to police and said she used a knife in the robbery, Aguilar said.
Los Angeles Times

Teen with pellet gun who was shot by LAPD officer gets $15 million
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to spend $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a teen who was paralyzed in a police shooting, struck with a single shot after an officer said he mistook a pellet gun for a real firearm. Five years ago, 13-year-old Royahent Gomez Eriza was shot and wounded when police happened upon him and two friends playing on a dark Glassell Park street.
Los Angeles Times

Mother of girl missing from North Hills motel questions relationship with man at park
Police searched Wednesday for a 12-year-old girl who went missing from a North Hills motel after taking out trash, leaving her mother questioning the girl's relationship with a man she had met at a park. Michelle Mosby's 12-year old daughter Donyetta Butts has been missing since Tuesday evening and is the focal point of a search in North Hills and surrounding communities by the Los Angeles Police Department's Missing Persons Unit.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. is warned of possible suit against homeless sweeps law
When controversial legislation cracking down on homeless encampments took effect last month, Los Angeles appeared to have settled on a strategy for dismantling unsightly tent cities that have formed in neighborhoods around the city. But at a meeting of the City Council's homelessness committee Wednesday, the controversy continued to boil, with no resolution in sight. The panel was considering relaxing the two laws, which make it easier for sanitation workers and police to confiscate and destroy tents and other belongings stored in parks and streets.
Los Angeles Times

California police identify homeless man as target of 2-week-old manhunt
California police identified a homeless man with a long criminal past on Tuesday as the target of a two-week-old manhunt for a gunman thought to have killed a retiree, taken people hostage and wounded Kern County sheriff's deputies. Benjamin Peter Ashley, 34, had been arrested several times in Central and Southern California, Sheriff Donny Youngblood said at a news conference.
FOX News

San Jose Police Union Accuses City Of Going Back On Pension Reform Deal
San Jose city officials are trying to renege on a tentative settlement with the San Jose Police Officers' Association on a pension reform measure, a union spokesman alleged Wednesday. Officials from the city attorney's office met with the police union on Tuesday and are trying to back out of the framework of the deal reached last month, union spokesman Tom Saggau said. City spokesman David Vossbrink refuted the union's claim. He said both sides are close to resolving the matter and that no one is changing the deal.
CBS San Francisco

Public Safety

Firefighters Demonstrate How Child Can Die in Hot Car
It's story that's told too often: parents slip into a grocery store for just a few minutes and leave the window cracked for their children or return home from an errand and forget the baby in the back seat, leading to the child's death. What seems like a harmless few minutes in a store can result in the injury or death of a child. And it's not only dangerous to leave a child in the car, it's been illegal in California since 2001.
NBC Los Angeles