Law Enforcement

LAPD's body cameras roll out Monday, but footage won't be public
Come Monday the Los Angeles Police Department begins its deployment of body cameras for officers. The initial rollout is limited -- only 860 of the proposed 7,000 cameras will hit the streets at first -- and the SWAT team won't get them until sometime after mid-September, according to The Los Angeles Times. The LAPD "doesn't plan on" making the recordings public unless a criminal or civil court case attached to them, though.
Engadget, ABC 7

1 Arrested in Venice Beach Boardwalk Shooting That Left 1 Man Dead, Another Wounded: LAPD
A person has been arrested in connection with a shooting that left one man dead and another wounded on the Venice Beach boardwalk, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Sunday evening. The male arrestee, a Venice Beach resident, was taken into custody about about six hours after the fatal early-morning incident and booked on suspicion of homicide, a spokesman for the LAPD's Pacific Division said.
KTLA 5

Female Pedestrian Is Fatally Struck by Hit-and-Run Driver in South L.A.
A female pedestrian died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in South Los Angeles, police confirmed Monday. The pedestrian was crossing a street near West Century Boulevard and South Hoover Street in the Vermont Vista neighborhood around 11:38 p.m. Sunday when she was struck, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Susie Padilla said.
KTLA 5

Two men killed in separate South L.A. shootings
Two men were killed in separate shootings in South Los Angeles on Saturday, police said. The first shooting occurred in the Florence neighborhood overnight and the second in Hyde Park in the afternoon, authorities said. In the first instance, officers responded to a report of a shooting near 84th Street and South Broadway shortly before 1 a.m. and found a man dead on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds, LAPD spokesman Jack Richter said.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek two robbers who brandished knife, robbed three victims at Northridge strip mall
Two men robbed a group of three friends at knife point in broad daylight early Saturday evening in the parking lot of a Northridge strip mall, Los Angeles police said Sunday. The incident took place between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m. in a parking lot of a strip mall that houses a Petco, an In-N-Out Burger and a Costco in the 8800 block of Tampa Avenue, said Officer Joaquin Lopez of LAPD's Devonshire Community Police Station.
Los Angeles Daily News

'Django' actress gets community service after judge calls apology to LAPD 'insincere'
When an actress and her boyfriend pleaded no contest to charges stemming from an arrest last fall, there was a catch: They had to apologize to the Los Angeles police officers they accused of mistreating the actress because of her race. Three months later, Daniele Watts — best known for her appearance in "Django Unchained" — and chef Brian James Lucas presented the judge with an apology letter that raised eyebrows. Watts said the sergeant involved in the encounter provoked her, describing him as sarcastic and dismissive. She signed her name with a heart, but didn't offer a direct apology.
Los Angeles Times

Panel recommends parole for killer of San Diego police officer
A state parole board panel voted Friday to recommend that Jesus Cecena, convicted of the 1978 killing of San Diego police Officer Archie Buggs, be paroled. The issue now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has several months to make his decision. Brown last year rejected a similar recommendation from a parole board panel. "We'll fight this decision with everything we've got," said San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis. San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman urged the public "to join me and petition Gov. Brown to veto this terrible decision."
Los Angeles Times

Police worry about their own safety after killings: 'It's a different world'
During his 21 years in law enforcement, Cpl. Wayne Curry hasn't worried much about the approach of strangers. The Texas officer, like anyone who wears a badge, said he has had his share of run-ins with those who harbor a dislike of the police. But when people have stepped up to him, he said, it is "more likely they want to buy me dinner." Curry is now thinking twice. He spoke as he watched over a crowd of about 1,500 people gathered at an impromptu memorial at a gas station in a Houston suburb, where an on-duty officer from a neighboring department in Harris County near Houston was gunned down Friday in an apparently unprovoked attack while fueling his car.
Los Angeles Times

Slaying of Texas Deputy 'Senseless and Cowardly'
Authorities have arrested a man who they say gunned down an unsuspecting sheriff's deputy as he was filling up his patrol car at a gas station. It was the latest fatal ambush of a law enforcement officer in recent months, and what Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman on Saturday called a "senseless and cowardly act."
Officer.com