Law Enforcement News

1 Woman Killed, Another Injured In South L.A. Shooting
A woman died and another woman was injured in a broad-daylight shooting in South Los Angeles on Monday, officials said. The gunfire was reported just after noon at Broadway and 88th Street, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Mike Lopez said. Officers found a woman lying at the southeast corner of the intersection suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Lt. Byron Roberts of the LAPD's South Bureau Homicide Division said. Paramedics took her to a hospital. “Life-saving measures were attempted. Unfortunately, she did pass as a result of the gunshot wound she sustained at this location,” Roberts said. “An additional person with victim. She was also struck by a gunshot,” Roberts said. “That was a graze wound. She is in good condition.”KTLA 5

This Is Why The LAPD Will Miss February Deadline, Set By Former Police Chief Charlie Beck, To Open Harbor Division Jail
On Feb. 4, 2016, then-Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck stood before a crowd of some 450 Harbor Area residents and vowed to open San Pedro's closed jailhouse within three years. Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, speaking at the same crime forum at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, went further, saying he intended to shave that timeline in half. An aide to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti echoed that intention. The pledge brought loud applause from the audience attending the crime forum. “We all agree that three years is too long,” Buscaino told the crowd. “We're going to try to cut that in half.”But that didn't happen. And now it's clear that the jail won't even open within the three-year time frame Beck — who announced his retirement in January after 40 years in uniform — had originally intended. That three-year deadline will be up in two months and there will be no jail opening at LAPD's Harbor Division station, said new Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, citing budget issues. The Daily Breeze

South L.A. Father Accused Of Child Abuse Resulting In Death After 4-Year-Old Girl Dies: LAPD
A South Los Angeles man was arrested on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death on Monday, one day after his 4-year-old daughter died at a hospital, LAPD said. Officers first initiated a death investigation after a call came in just after 11:15 a.m. Sunday from L.A. County University of Southern California Medical Center, where the child was pronounced dead, according to a Los Angeles Police Department news release. The unidentified victim had been taken there from a home in the 1500 block of East 42nd Street, according to an LAPD news release. A cause of death was not immediately released, but LAPD Officer Jeff Lee confirmed to KTLA Monday morning that it was being investigated as a homicide. On Sunday, an LAPD official said detectives went to the girl's home to investigate and spoke with her parents. KTLA 5

Two Suspects Sought In Hollywood Hills Home Invasion
Police are searching for two men who forced their way into a Hollywood Hills home Sunday morning and robbed several people inside. The home invasion occurred at 5 a.m. Sunday in the 7200 block of Woodrow Wilson Drive. According to Los Angeles police, the suspects entered the home and stole personal belongings from several people who were staying there. According to TMZ, Elisa Johnson, the daughter of L.A. Lakers legend Magic Johnson, was among those in the home as part of an Airbnb rental. CBS 2

Teen Missing From Van Nuys, Seen On Video Chat With Gun, Had Dalmatian Puppy With Her
Police Monday disseminated a photo of a 17-year-old girl who went missing from the Van Nuys area and may be armed and suicidal. Katherine Michelle Lopez was last seen on Sunday leaving a friend's residence in the 6900 block of Columbus Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. The teen and her friend got into an argument, and she left on foot, police said. “Katherine then contacted her friend by video chat and was seen holding a gun, threatening to harm herself,” according to an LAPD statement. “Katherine is a habitual runaway and is possibly suicidal." Los Angeles Daily News

MS-13 Gang Member, Convicted Killer Arrested After Coming To U.S. Alongside Migrant Caravan: Border Patrol
A killer convicted in Honduras and an MS-13 gang member also from Honduras were arrested in California last weekend after crossing the border illegally, Border Patrol said Friday. The two are being held up by federal authorities as examples of some of the criminals who have traveled through Mexico to the border with Central American caravans hoping to enter the U.S., many through the asylum process. Both arrests occurred Saturday. Around 11 p.m., agents detected three people crossing the border about one mile east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, authorities said. KTLA 5

Alex Villanueva, Who Beat Long Odds In Historic Election Upset, Sworn In As L.A. County Sheriff
Just days after the final ballots were counted in a closely watched election that awarded him a stunning win, Alex Villanueva was sworn in Monday as Los Angeles County sheriff, promising to steer one of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies toward a new era of change. Villanueva, 55, took the oath of office from Superior Court Judge Lucy Armendariz at East Los Angeles College, a short distance from the East Los Angeles sheriff's station where he once served as a young deputy. “We are going back to being peace officers and should be judged by how well we protect our communities,” Villanueva said before a crowd of hundreds of deputies, community leaders and elected officials who attended the event.  Los Angeles Times

Residents, cops fight back against porch pirates with technology
If Black Friday felt a little less hectic, think porch deliveries. A record $7.9 billion was spent online in the United States this year on that day, according to an estimate by software company Adobe — an increase of 19.3 percent over just the year before. So that battalion of trucks you see out there dropping off packages this holiday season is bigger than ever. Probably, sadly, so is the parade of prowling porch pirates. A 2017 poll by Shorr Packaging Corp., an Illinois-based company that sells packaging and equipment, determined that one third of us have had a package stolen from our stoops. Because the crime is omnipresent, it is tough on cops to nab the thieves. Mercury News

Police Departments Fail To Regularly Trace Crime Guns
The night before Valentine's Day 2010, Derrick Shannon called 911 to say he'd accidentally shot his girlfriend in the head. Shannon wasn't supposed to have a gun. He had pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes over the years, including criminal domestic violence, burglary, and aggravated assault. Federal law barred him from possessing a firearm. When police arrived, Shannon, then 29, told them he'd found the Smith & Wesson revolver a couple of weeks earlier in the woods behind his Rembert, South Carolina, home. He knew he shouldn't have it, he said, but he held onto it for protection. The Trace

Many of the dead in Camp Fire were disabled. Could they have been saved?
Sixty-three-year old Ernest Foss had swollen legs and couldn't walk. Vinnie Carota, 65, was missing a leg and didn't have a car. Evelyn Cline, 83, had a car but struggled to get in it without help. Dorothy Herrera, 93, had onset dementia and her husband Louis, 86, couldn't drive anymore. And 78-year-old John Digby was just feeling sick the morning of the Camp Fire when he refused a neighbor's offer to drive him to safety. An unsettling picture is emerging in the fire-charred hills of Butte County: Many of the at least 85 people who perished in the raging Camp Fire on Nov. 8 were elderly, infirm or disabled. Sacramento Bee

L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson Launches Bid For County Supervisor
Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson said Monday he is running in 2020 for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors, looking to represent roughly 2 million people in a district stretching from Carson to Culver City. In a fundraising blast to supporters, Wesson said he is looking to serve the district being vacated by departing Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who faces term limits in two years. “After discussing with my wife, Fabian, and our sons, we are excited to continue the progress we have begun in my time in the Assembly and Los Angeles City Council,” Wesson said in the email, which included a request for a campaign contribution of up to $1,500. Los Angeles Times

Airbnb Rules Appear Close After 3 Years Of Debate At LA City Council
A City Council committee is expected Tuesday to continue its three-year effort to create an ordinance regulating Airbnb and other home sharing platforms in Los Angeles and appears close to the finish line. The question over allowing some low-income residents who live in rent-stabilized units to be home sharing hosts has been one of the final outstanding issues. The Planning and Land Use Management Committee last examined the home sharing regulations in October, when it approved a ban on all Rent Stabilization Ordinance qualified units being available for home sharing, but two major events have happened since then. MyNewsLA.com