Law Enforcement

Police Commission to judge two questions in Ezell Ford shooting
As members of the Los Angeles Police Commission step behind closed doors Tuesday to judge the officers who killed Ezell Ford, the panel will consider two distinct events. One is the decision to open fire on Ford, which both Police Chief Charlie Beck and the department's independent inspector general have found to be justified after investigators turned up evidence indicating that Ford grabbed for an officer's holstered gun during a struggle, according to sources familiar with the LAPD's investigation of the shooting. The other is the officers' actions in the moments immediately before the shooting, in which they approached the 25-year-old mentally ill black man and tried to detain him.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD seek fleeing driver who fatally struck bicyclist in South L.A.
Los Angeles Police asked for the public's help Monday in tracking down the driver who struck and killed a man riding a bicycle in South Los Angeles and fled. The hit-and-run accident happened at the intersection of Slauson Avenue and San Pedro Place at 8:25 p.m. Sunday, police said. Manuel Enrique Mendoza-Hernandez, 22, of Los Angeles was riding his bicycle westbound along the Slauson Avenue sidewalk just east of San Pedro Place when he veered off the sidewalk into the path of a vehicle making a right turn from San Pedro Place onto Slauson Avenue and was knocked to the pavement, then run over by the vehicle, police said.
MyNewsLA.com

Residents, LAPD Concerned As Homeless Continue To Move Into Local Parks
Residents across the Southland are becoming frustrated as the number of homeless people camping out at local parks continues to grow. A recent count found that homelessness has jumped 12 percent in the city and LA county over the last two years, resulting in the number of encampments increasing. The growing number of homeless people in parks has triggered concern among local residents, who say they are worried about their children playing at parks such as North Hollywood Park. “They're smoking drugs there, I can small it all the time,” resident Florencia Fuentes said. “You always have to be watching, because you don't know what to expect.”
CBS Los Angeles

Heat Brings Uptick in Atwater Village Home Burglaries: Police
Police say there was an uptick in home burglaries in Atwater Village over the weekend - and it could be tied to warmer temperatures. The victims left windows open at night or when they were away, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division. "In these particular burglaries, we noticed rear and side window entries, two of which were unlocked windows maybe due to the heat, and a third one where the rear window was actually pried open," said LAPD Det. Michael Bland.
NBC Los Angeles

Police investigating fatal Los Feliz stabbing
Police are investigating the fatal stabbing of a man in a Los Feliz alley early this morning. The victim died from his injuries after driving himself to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, according to LAPD spokesman Joe Rios. He was pronounced dead at about 5 a.m. The victim was a 22-year-old man who was in a fight with multiple male suspects when he was stabbed in the upper torso and face, according LAPD spokesman Officer Drake Madison. The victim's name was not released. Anyone with information about this stabbing is asked to call Northeast Division homicide detectives L. Governo or Detective H. DiCroce at (323) 344-5744.
Eastsider LA

Suspect escapes after armed robbery at ARCO minimart near USC
A gunman who wore a dark hoodie, along with a bandanna over his face, robbed a gas station minimart adjacent the University of Southern California early Monday morning, police said. The robbery occurred about 2:10 a.m. at Exposition Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, said Sgt. Bret Guyre of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Station. The suspect entered the ARCO minimart, fired a shot into the ceiling and demanded money from the cash register, Guyre said. The employees complied, handing over more than $500, he said, and the gunman fled on foot. There were no injuries.
MyNewsLA.com

Stocky Man Sought in String of Long Beach Gropings
Police are looking for a serial groper in Long Beach, releasing a sketch Monday of the man believed to have harassed five women in their 20s in the area since May 27. In the most recent groping, a man approached a woman from behind at 1:30 a.m. and groped her buttocks near Florida Street and Hermosa Avenue on Friday, June 5, according to the Long Beach Police Department. The other incidents occurred the evening of Wednesday, May 27, when four women were groped on the buttocks in three separate incidents near the southern end of Bluff Park between 8 and 11 p.m.
NBC Los Angeles

Teen accused of killing 21-year-old man in El Segundo apartment
A 19-year-old man was arrested Monday on suspicion of killing a 21-year-old man in an El Segundo home. Kevin Carlson was found with a gunshot wound in his upper torso about 3 p.m. inside the bedroom of his apartment in the 1700 block of East Sycamore Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office and Sheriff's Department. Detectives learned that Carlson was with Chance Kellen Kennedy, a Hawthorne resident, about the time of the shooting, Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez said.
Los Angeles Times

DC Police Union Chairman: 'Ferguson effect' partly to blame for violent weekend
A violent weekend in D.C. has residents worried about an increase crime that is sweeping big cities like Baltimore. Overall homicides are up this year in the District as are crimes with guns, robberies and assaults. Since last Friday, at least eleven people have been shot and another eleven people stabbed. The public is worried that this is a result of the anti-police sentiment by many around the country that is now being referred to as the "Ferguson effect." “It was getting better, but lately it seems there's more going on in this city and Baltimore and other places too,” said D.C. resident Cody Goebel.
MyFoxDC.com

City Government

Garcetti, like other big-city mayors, must balance agenda, police actions
Garcetti came into office in 2013 as the earnest proprietor of a massive to-do list of would-be civic improvements: filling potholes, picking up trash and creating jobs. He has proposed billions in spending for earthquake preparation, worked to draw tech types here from across the country, and espoused a data-driven approach to measuring the city's successes and failures. But this week, he was caught in the debate that has confounded Los Angeles repeatedly over the years: whether the police force is an occupying army, as it long was; a reliable ally for the community, as it has tried to become; or something in between.
Los Angeles Times