Law Enforcement

Legal Issues With Body Cams
Recent events have accelerated law enforcement's timetable for adopting pilot programs to test the use of audio-video recording devices worn on the police uniform or accessories. Some early users have reported drops in complaints and use-of-force incidents. Prosecutors and jurors favor the incontestable evidence a recording often provides. Police-accountability activists urge that all officers be required to wear body cams at all times while on duty. There's no denying that this technology has many benefits to offer.
Police Magazine

Findings of federal Ferguson shooting inquiry could be announced soon
Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that he soon will announce the findings of a federal criminal investigation into the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., as well as an administrative review of that police department's use-of-force policies and its relations with the African American community there. He said he was confident that "the people will be satisfied with the results that we announce."
Los Angeles Times

Jarrett Maupin Trains With Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
A progressive pastor who has lead protests against law enforcement said “his attitude has changed” Wednesday after a local law enforcement agency invited him to a training scenario simulating life threatening situations. Rev. Jarrett Maupin is a former Democratic congressional candidate who describes himself as a “Progressive Baptist Preacher,” a “Civil Rights Campaigner,” and a “Radical Political Activist” on his Twitter profile. He led a demonstration last month against the Phoenix Police Department after one of their officers shot an unarmed man.
Western Journalism

Chief Beck Gets New Situation Room to Stay on Top of Crime, Deployment
With crime rates no longer on a steady decline in Los Angeles, a conference room on the 10th floor of the Police Administration Building has been assigned new duty - as the Chief's Situation Room. The transformation began barely a week ago, with electronic displays and deployment charts going up inside, so that Chief Charlie Beck can step across the hallway from his office and get an immediate realtime picture of incidents and resources. "Sometimes the chief has to step forward and take direct control of the department, and this is one of those times," said Chief Beck.
NBC Los Angeles

Alumnus Edwin Henderson paves a straight path for inner-city teens
Henderson's partnership with the LAPD has grown exponentially over the years. In fact, since the sale of the building in 2012 that OAM leased for its programs, the organization has been operating out of the Southwest police station while raising funds and searching for a building to purchase. Henderson works closely with LAPD officer Irwin Rocha, the station's youth coordinator who runs its Jeopardy gang prevention and intervention program. He leads a total of nine youth programs—the most of any police station in Los Angeles—that serve approximately 350 young people a year from the ages of 8 to 17.
CSUDH News

City Sues Owners of ‘Drug and Gang Den' Properties in South L.A., Hollywood
The owners of two “drug and gang den” properties — one in South Los Angeles and one on Hollywood — that allegedly bring crime to residential neighborhoods were sued by the city, authorities announced Tuesday. The lawsuits were filed against the owners of two properties well known to police for being hubs of criminal activity, according to the office of Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, who brought the civil nuisance abatement suits.
KTLA5

Former Mexican Mafia Hit Man Turned Informant Set To Be Released On Parole
A former Mexican Mafia hit man who was sentenced to life in prison will be paroled in a matter of days unless Gov. Jerry Brown intervenes. Rene Enriquez, 52, is a convicted murderer who has written extensively about the years he spent in the Mexican Mafia. In a YouTube clip, Enriquez promoted one of the books he wrote while behind bars.
ABC7

Owners of cabin where Christopher Dorner died to get $200,000
The owners of the cabin that burned down during the final showdown between ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner and law enforcement in 2013 will be paid $200,000 for their loss. The cabin in the Angelus Oaks neighborhood of Big Bear burned down Feb. 12, 2013, after the San Bernardino County Sheriff's SWAT team fired in gas that ignited and consumed the building in fire.
Los Angeles Times

Body found in Wilmington parking lot
A man's body was found Tuesday in a parking lot in Wilmington, authorities said. The body was discovered about 7 a.m. in the 300 block of West Anaheim Street, said coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter. The name of the man, apparently in his 40s, was not immediately released. The cause of death was unknown.
mynewsLA.com

Public Safety

Brutally Honest: How to keep your teens from texting and driving
The numbers show what an uphill climb we, as parents, have ahead of us. Fifty-five percent of young-adult drivers, in a survey by Online Schools, said it was easy to text and drive, while 34% of teens said they have texted while behind the wheel. Forty-eight percent of young drivers in the survey also said they had seen their parents drive while talking on a cell phone. (Talking on a cell phone, even hands free, results in a slower reaction time than if you were driving at or above the legal blood alcohol limit, according to the National Safety Council.) And, 15% of young drivers have seen their parents text while driving, according to the advocacy group textinganddrivingsafety.com.
CNN

City Government

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wants new task force to push waterfront projects in San Pedro, Wilmington
In what is hoped will be a needed push for long-languishing waterfront projects, Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday announced the formation of a “high-level” citywide panel to help guide the Port of Los Angeles in planning and securing funds to turn the L.A. Waterfront into a tourist draw. “In the past decade, the port has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in public access infrastructure,” Garcetti said in a written statement. “Now we need a focused effort on developing a commercial base of businesses to improve the quality of life for residents and to attract visitors from around the world.
Los Angeles Daily News