Law Enforcement

In Los Angeles, a national model for how to police the mentally ill
They called her the “million dollar woman.” Los Angeles 911 dispatchers heard from her on a daily basis – sometimes multiple times. The complaint was always the same: The caller said she couldn't breathe. Each time, emergency crews packed her into an ambulance. And each time, unable to find any medical problem, emergency room doctors released her without treatment. Recommended: Can you pass the written police officer exam? Those ER visits cost the city more than $1 million in a single year – and did little to assist the woman, says Lt. Lionel Garcia, longtime director of the L.A. Police Department's Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU).
Christian Science Monitor

Strange Days for the LAPD
Although the number of aggravated assaults has spiked in the last year, the overall level of crime in the city is, by historic standards, extremely low. At the same time, the antagonism associated with the regime of former Chief Daryl Gates is long gone, and it has been more than two years since the transformation started by another former chief, William Bratton, prompted the Feds to lift a consent decree. Further, the police force has become increasingly diverse, and the makeup of officers now more closely mirrors the city they patrol. Along the same lines, the department has worked hard to partner with communities on crime prevention and other measures. Even if some distrust of the force persists, things are far better now than they were in either Bush era.
LA Downtown News

Echo Park Hit-And-Run Suspect Claimed To Be Victim, LAPD Says
The suspect who was arrested in the hit-and-run collision in Echo Park that left a 15-year-old boy brain dead allegedly went to a police station and claimed to be a victim in a hit-and-run crash, police said. Sang Won Jung, 26, of Tujunga allegedly tried to file a report Saturday stating that he had been the victim of a hit-and-run crash. Officers at the police station noticed that Jung's vehicle "matched the description of the hit-and-run [vehicle] involving two teenage victims," the police statement said. "Detectives from the Central Traffic Division responded to the [police] station, and concluded that Mr. Jung had been behind the wheel when the two teenage victims were struck."
ABC 7

Reward offered for fatal shooting of entertainment industry exec in 2014
The city of Los Angeles is offering a $50,000 reward for information regarding the 2014 fatal shooting of businessman Suren “Chris” Donoyan, 53, in his North Hollywood apartment. Donoyan's decomposed body was found in his apartment on Nov. 25, 2014 with a gunshot wound to the head. Los Angeles Police Department investigators initially weren't sure if Donoyan's death was a homicide or suicide. However, detectives later determined that one or more people entered his residence on Nov. 20 and shot him in the head, according to an LAPD news release.
Los Angeles Times

Palmdale Parents Search For Hit-Run Driver Involved In Son's Death
Nearly 18 months after a Palmdale man's tragic death in a hit-and-run crash, his family does not have closure. The driver responsible has not been found. "I don't know if I'll ever get closure. Then thinking that this person is still out there, it's scary," said mother Debra Redack. "It hurts. You get frustrated. You get angry," she added. In January 2014, Terence Redack, 29, was jogging about two blocks from his Palmdale home when he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver. Father Bruce Redack said he remembers the last brief words he and his son shared. He was in the hospital undergoing treatment for cancer.
ABC 7

Court case hinges on claim of illegal CHP ticket quotas
For years, the California Highway Patrol has consistently denied that its officers are subject to a quota for the number of traffic tickets they write each month. The practice is illegal under state law, and agencies that have been found to use a quota system have paid millions of dollars in damages and faced lawsuits filed as recently as April. Despite that, a veteran CHP officer testified in Sacramento this month that he was subjected to monthly admonishments from his superiors to boost his “enforcement contacts” with motorists to at least 100 a month, and that such performance evaluations went on for years.
The Sacramento Bee

San Diego sheriff defends deputy who used stun gun in struggle with teen
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore on Monday defended the actions of a deputy who used a Taser to subdue a 13-year-old runaway in Fallbrook who was resisting arrest. The deputy had repeatedly asked the teen to get into the patrol car so he could be returned to his mother, Gore said at a news conference. The teen's mother had told the sheriff's department that her son, described by Gore as 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds, had been missing for a day and a half.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

As LA contemplates legal street vending, a look at other local vending policies
Los Angeles is contemplating a citywide ordinance that would allow street vendors to take out permits and sell their wares legally. If this happens, L.A. would be the biggest city next to New York to have a legal street vending program. But locally, some nearby municipalities already allow limited street vending. One recent warm afternoon outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Crescencio Martinez sold ice cream to patrons, unworried even with police nearby. "The police don't bother me," said Martinez, who displayed a Pasadena health permit on his small ice cream cart.
KPCC