Law Enforcement

Police Commission briefly recesses after latest LAPD shooting sparks demonstrations
For the second consecutive week, Los Angeles Police Commission members briefly recessed a meeting because of loud demonstrators in the audience. About two dozen activists attended the downtown meeting Tuesday to speak out against several shootings involving the LAPD, the most recent coming last week and resulting in a woman's death. The crowd chanted "cowards" as they walked out. The woman allegedly robbed a pharmacy in Baldwin Hills at knifepoint and was shot by police in an alley about an hour later. The coroner's office has not released her name because they have not been able to locate family members, officials said.
Los Angeles Times

Social Media Cheers On LAPD Officers For Helping Teen With Necktie Before School
A pair of LAPD officers got a social media “shout-out” Tuesday from a Boyle Heights mom after the officers took time from their duties to help a teenage boy with his necktie for his first day back at school. KNX 1070's Margaret Carrero reports Officers Jonathan Maldonado and Alberto Ledesma were flagged down in the Boyle Heights area Monday morning by 14-year-old Christopher Cazales and his mother, who were en route to Bishop Mora Salesian High School.
CBS Los Angeles

Wife of Slain Officer Fights to Keep Cop Killer Accomplice Behind Bars
A man who conspired to kill a police officer is recommended for parole, but officers, the victim's family, and others are writing letters, asking Gov. Jerry Brown to keep him behind bars. The case is from 30 years ago but remembered today, some say, like it was yesterday. LAPD Detective Thomas Williams picked up his 6-year-old son from day care at a church in Canoga Park on Halloween day in 1985 when shots rang out.
NBC Los Angeles

What the LAPD is doing to make traffic stops safer
We've seen the videos: A cop stops someone on a minor beef and the stop escalates. The only answer is training, training and more training, says William A. Murphy, LAPD deputy chief of the Police Sciences and Training Bureau. The Los Angeles Police Academy requires hundreds more hours than the California minimum, and, Murphy says, the department spends millions on tech and on the time to educate and sometimes reeducate its cops — so much money the department has made some officers pay the city back if they don't fulfill a five-year contract. (Last week, a state court ruled against that practice.).
Los Angeles Times

Police Ask for Help Finding Killer in Hollywood Bar Fight
Police asked for the public's help today to help locate suspects in a bar fight in Hollywood that escalated to the shooting death of one man inside and stabbing of two men outside. The fight occurred at 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the San Salvador Bar in the 900 block of North Western Avenue, between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, police said.
Hollywood Patch

Man Killed in South LA Shooting
A man was fatally wounded following a shooting in South Los Angeles Tuesday night, according to LAPD. The shooting was reported around 11:30 p.m. in the 100 block of 79th Street, according to LAPD.
NBC Los Angeles

City attorney wants more resources put into tackling ID theft
City Attorney Mike Feuer warned the public Tuesday of the growing problem of identity theft and said he is putting more resources into tackling such cases. Feuer said he is assigning two full-time attorneys — one to work with police in the San Fernando Valley and the other to assist detectives in the downtown Los Angeles area — and adding other resources to deal with identity theft cases.
mynewsLA.com

San Jose Police Officers Association approves settlement to replace Measure B
The San Jose Police Officers Association has approved the new settlement to replace measure B, now all that remains is approval by the city council. Nearly 90 percent of union members ratified the new wage agreement, which will give police and firefighters an 8 percent raise, as well as the new pension plan.
KLIV 1590

Pensions

Count the bad ideas in California pension overhaul proposal
Along with taxation and immigration, one political issue that never seems to go away is the cost of public employees, especially their pensions. Public retirement plans are consistently blamed for local and state budget woes. Any time a community runs into fiscal trouble, its workers are among the first to be demonized, and often bear the brunt of the remedies. After all, pension obligations are typically among the largest liabilities any government entity must bear, so why not hack away?
Los Angeles Times

Public Safety

Girl, 15, dies of suspected overdose at rave, heightening safety debate
A new rave death in California this week comes amid growing debate about how to keep such events safe. A teenage girl died of a suspected drug overdose after attending a rave at the Fresno Fairgrounds on Saturday night, police said. Authorities said Monday that Houa Hue, 15, a sophomore at Fresno's Washington Union High School, was found dead early Sunday in the back seat of a car belonging to a stranger she had asked to take her home.
Los Angeles Times