Law Enforcement

LAPD Cracks Down On Illegal Street Racing
Over 200 spectators gathered to partake in an illegal street race on Friday, September 18 in downtown Los Angeles. By midnight, the crowds scattered when the Los Angeles police appeared. 50 people were cited with misdemeanor charges from taking part in the street racing incident. According to police, officers had located street racers on 11th and Mateo Street, in an industrial area of the downtown area. LAPD had received reports of large crowds on the streets, and arrived at the scene by 11:15 p.m. This crackdown has been part of LAPD's efforts to create safer streets by targeting illegal street racers in the Los Angeles area.
Canyon News

LAPD Hopes Public Can Help Them Find Missing 27-Year-Old Man
The Los Angeles Police Department is hoping the public can help them locate a missing 27-year-old man. Devan Lee-Gurr was last seen on September 19 around 12:35 p.m., near his residence located in the 2200 block of Beachwood Drive in Hollywood. He recently moved to the Hollywood area from San Francisco to live with an aunt.
CBS Los Angeles

Woman Critically Injured by Hit-and-Run Driver in Highland Park
Police released the license plate number of a vehicle sought Saturday after a hit-and-run driver left a woman critically injured in Highland Park. The woman was crossing eastbound on North Figueroa Street and North Avenue 55 when she was struck around 9:45 p.m. Friday, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Melody Hainline said.
KTLA 5

Male Victim Hospitalized After Being Shot in Lincoln Heights; Search for Assailant Under Way
A search was underway for the person who shot a male victim Sunday afternoon in Lincoln Heights, police said. Firefighters responded to the area of West Avenue 29 and Barranca Street, where the wounded person was found lying on the ground, said Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The unidentified victim was transported to L.A. County-USC Medical Center, according to a Los Angeles Police Department officer at the scene. His condition was not immediately known.
KTLA 5

Woman arrested after fatally striking woman with baseball bat in San Fernando Valley
A woman was killed when she was struck Saturday morning by another woman with a baseball bat in the Tarzana area, police said Sunday. A “small argument” escalated into one female striking another with the back of a baseball bat in a rear alley near Lindley Avenue and Victory Boulevard, said Lt. Richard Tompkins of the LAPD's West Valley Division. A suspect was arrested, he said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Police shooting from helicopters -- rare but not unheard of
Police are justified in shooting suspects from helicopters — as happened Friday during the pursuit of a wrong-way vehicle on the 215 Freeway in San Bernardino County — only in the most desperate situations and when other tactics might be more dangerous, experts said. When a suspect is fleeing at high speed into oncoming traffic, spike strips are out of the question, and department rules often prohibit officers from pursuing the suspect by car, experts said. Shooting from a helicopter can be the only option remaining to prevent the likely harm to oncoming motorists, they said.
Los Angeles Times

Fear of ‘war on cops' has police on edge
Deon Filer understands why some people do not hold police in high regard. As a teenager growing up in South Central Los Angeles, some of his early encounters with police were less than favorable. He recalls a time, when he was 14, when he and two friends exited a public bus and were confronted by two jittery police officers, guns drawn, who ordered them to lie on the ground. Filer noticed the exposed red dot on the safety select of one of the officer's guns, which meant the safety was unlocked and the gun was ready to fire.
The Sun

Police Lives Matter group marches on Capitol
Hundreds of supporters of the Police Lives Matter movement - including widows and children of officers killed in the line of duty - were on the steps of the Austin Police Department Saturday where they prayed, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and held up signs with the names of their fallen heroes. Then they did what political activists have been doing in Austin for nearly 127 years: they marched on the Capitol.
Houston Chronicle

Pensions

How San Jose, San Diego pension measures have fared
On the same June 2012 Election Day, California's second- and third-largest cities -- chic beachfront San Diego and high-tech hub San Jose -- made national headlines when voters overwhelmingly approved sweeping measures to trim municipal retirement benefits whose mounting costs were devouring their budgets. The two cities took very different approaches, and the debate continues over which city has had more success -- and whether either could serve as a model for statewide reform.
San Jose Mercury News