Law Enforcement

Man killed in officer-involved shooting at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Identified
A man killed in an officer-involved shooting inside the emergency room of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center was identified Sunday. Ruben Jose Herrera, 26, of Torrance, died Saturday when Los Angeles police opened fire after they said he attempted to reach for an officer's gun. Herrera was taken to the Torrance hospital for an evaluation after officials said he attacked officers who were responding to reports of a man throwing bottles and fighting with neighbors at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of West 207th Street.
ABC 7

Taking bias out of policing is a tall order, but here are some starting points
Thirteen hundred racial profiling complaints — and not one of them considered valid by the Los Angeles Police Department. What does that say about our police force and our city? That's what's troubling the Police Commission, the department's civilian overseers, after LAPD investigations into three years of bias claims produced such lopsided findings: Residents — 0. Police officers — 1,356. "I don't think anybody believes that there are actually no incidents of biased policing," commission President Matt Johnson told Times reporter Kate Mather.
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles conducts counter-terrorism drill
About 150 Los Angeles police officers and other law enforcement agencies participated in a counter-terrorism-drill on Friday. Officers, including SWAT, K-9 units, Los Angeles firefighters and California Highway Patrol officials, simulated a response to a large-scale terror attack at LAX and near Dodgers Stadium around 11 a.m. After the exercise, Mayor Eric Garcetti held a news conference to talk about the city's preparedness plan for terrorism.
ABC 7

Hollywood Boulevard, North La Brea Avenue Reopen After Suspicious Item Prompts Closures
A suspicious item that prompted a partial closure of two major streets in Hollywood was determined not to be a threat Sunday afternoon, according the Los Angeles Police Department. The bomb squad was en route to an item in the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard as of noon, Officer Herrera with LAPD's media relations said. The investigation prompted a closure of Hollywood Boulevard and nearby North La Brea Avenue for about a block in each direction.
KTLA

A freeway terror attack is the 'nightmare we worry about,' law enforcers say
There are few places where Southern Californians feel more trapped than on a freeway in gridlocked traffic. One of the San Bernardino shooters and his longtime friend talked about taking advantage of this vulnerability by launching a terrorist attack on a clogged freeway using guns and pipe bombs, according to court records released last week. Syed Rizwan Farook and Enrique Marquez Jr. mapped out the attack plan of the 91 Freeway in detail and collected weapons and explosives in 2011 and 2012, only to abort the plot, the charges say.
Los Angeles Times

California black market surges for ‘ghost guns'
On May 16, 2013, Sharod Gibbons pulled his 1997 white Infiniti into a parking lot at Watt Avenue and Arden Way, near Arden Middle School. Gibbons got out and walked to the back of his car to show off a loaded AK-47 assault rifle and a Remington 700 bolt-action rifle to a prospective buyer, according to a federal agent's court affidavit. After some chit-chat, the two agreed on a price, and the buyer handed over $2,500 in cash.
Sacramento Bee

City Government

Audit: LA fails to track its surplus items
Raising the risk of fraud, the City of Los Angeles doesn't properly track the sale of surplus items like city desks and vehicles, according to an audit released this week by City Controller Ron Galperin. The audit found numerous deficiencies in how the city both manages and sells surplus or obsolete goods. “No city-wide inventory of equipment is available, nor does anyone systematically keep track of what is sold,” Galperin wrote in a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other City Hall officials. “Moreover, there is no oversight to make sure that, before items are sent to auction, city departments take the prudent step of finding out if other City agencies or worthy nonprofits could continue to put those items to good use.”
Los Angeles Daily News

Critics decry contributions to Councilman Englander from Taser execs seeking LAPD camera contract
L.A. voters went to the polls in 2011 to crack down on what some referred to as "pay to play" practices at City Hall, passing a measure to limit the political influence of companies that seek government business. Measure H, backed by then-Councilman Eric Garcetti and an array of good-government types, prohibits firms seeking lucrative city contracts from making campaign contributions to the politicians who have final say over those agreements.
Los Angeles Times