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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

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Los Angeles
Police Protective League
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the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

March 3, 2016

Law Enforcement

Man released from jail hours before killing Texas officer
The family of the man who they say fatally shot a Texas police officer described the 22-year-old as a drug addict who was released from jail the same day the shooting occurred. Jorge Antonio Gonzalez told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday that his son, Jorge Brian Gonzalez, was high on methamphetamine when he was jailed Monday for stealing money. He said his son was released Tuesday and then hours later engaged in a firefight with officers at a park in the Dallas suburb of Euless. Officer David Hofer, 29, was struck before other officers shot and killed the gunman. Hofer died Tuesday during surgery.
Associated Press

LAPD wants to be more than blue; wants to be transparent
The LAPD wants to be more than blue, it wants to be ''transparent''. Yesterday the Department released an unprecedented summary of use of force incidents over the past few years, today they threw open the doors of their Granada Hills training facility to show the media in detail how '' Force Investigation Division'' operates after a shooting. The idea is to build trust, something in short supply in some areas of LA, not a problem in others. They understand that there is frustration over how long it takes to investigate a shooting, over the fact that the Dept. essentially investigates itself (with oversight).
Fox 11

LA City Council backs resolution urging more funding for services under Prop. 47
The Los Angeles City Council backed a resolution Tuesday urging Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers to increase the amount of funding proposed for drug treatment, mental health, re-entry and other services promised under Proposition 47. The measure, approved by voters in 2014, reduced six categories of non- violent felonies to misdemeanors and calls for using savings from locking up fewer inmates on preventative and rehabilitation services. The funds would go toward programs intended to help former inmates re- enter society, reduce the rate of individuals returning to prison and steer youth away from criminal activity. A portion of the funds was also allocated to services for the victims of crimes.
MyNewsLA.com

Los Angeles Faces Hit-and-Run 'Epidemic'
A hit-and-run crash occurs about once every 18 minutes in Los Angeles, according to data analyzed by the NBC4 I-Team that illustrates the extent of a problem that has been called an "epidemic." The I-Team examined data reported to the California Highway Patrol on all hit-and-run cases in Los Angeles County for 2015. More than 28,000 reported hit-and-run crashes during that year occurred over a widespread area of the county at an alarming rate and 50 percent of all incidents in Los Angeles County are hit-and-run cases. The national average is 11 percent, according to the American Automobile Association. "The numbers are extremely high," said Los Angeles Police Detective Michael Kaden. "There is no rhyme or reason, that's why they call them accidents."
NBC 4

85-Year-Old Grandmother Hit, Killed by Tour Bus
After an 85-year-old grandmother walking in a crosswalk was struck and killed by a tour bus, the Los Angeles Police Department was asking for the public to help track down the driver Wednesday. "The only thing I want is justice," Arnold Valiente, her grandson, said. Encarnacion Valiente was walking in a marked crosswalk on Jan. 6 on Olympic Boulevard and Serrano Avenue in the Koreatown area. The tour bus struck the woman, and failed to stop, police said. Witness stopped to help Valiente when she was struck. Despite firefighters rushing her to the hospital, she died from her injuries. "It was 5:30 in the afternoon - a lot of traffic," Valiente said. "A lot of people saw it, a lot of people."
NBC 4

Disturbing Cellphone Video Shows Violent Attack on 2 Students Outside Dorsey High School: Parents
The parents of two Dorsey High School students who were viciously beaten during an after-school attack captured on cellphone video were demanding action Wednesday from the school district and police. The incident started with a minor classroom dispute involving a third student who allegedly brought three of her friends to class at the Crenshaw-area school on Feb. 23. The victims, Lauryn Adkins and Jah'nice Brown, told KTLA they informed a substitute teacher about the outside students, who were subsequently removed from the classroom. As Adkins and Brown were leaving school later that day, they claim a car pulled up carrying relatives of the student whose friends were forced to leave class.
KTLA 5

Attempted Murder Suspect Hurt In Officer-Involved Shooting In East LA
An attempted murder suspect was wounded Wednesday in an officer-involved in East Los Angeles, police said. The shooting occurred about 9:20 a.m. near Woods Avenue and Fourth Street in unincorporated county area just south of Monterey Park, according to Monterey Park police Lt. Carrie Mazelin. Police said the officer did not fire back, but continued to follow the gunman near Woods Avenue and Escuela Street, down the street from Garfield Senior High School, where a second shooting resulted with the suspect being hit, according to the Monterey Park Police Department. The suspect, who was not identified, was taken to the hospital in unknown condition. Police said he is a known gang member.
NBC 4

Youngest victim of 'Grim Sleeper' was found dumped in an alley, jurors hear
She was 15 with a shy smile and brilliant, dark eyes. Hawthorne Police Sgt. Chris Cognac met her while investigating a sex crime in which she was the victim. It was 2002, and Cognac got to know Princess Berthomieux as he worked to bring her assailant to justice. He spent time with her as the attacker's trial approached, meeting her half a dozen times. But once the trial began, Princess vanished. As a photograph of the smiling teen was projected on a large screen in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Cognac testified Wednesday that the next time he saw the girl was when he spotted an Inglewood police flier asking for help identifying the victim of a killing. He recognized the girl on the flier. Cognac told jurors that he called an Inglewood detective and told him the victim was Princess.
Los Angeles Times

3 men are charged with hate crimes in an attack on Latinos at an L.A. County park
Three men have been charged with hate crimes in an assault on Latinos at a Los Angeles County park, prosecutors said. Ian Plankey, Richard Daulton and Kevin Stewart pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two felony counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault with force likely to cause injury, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. The trio are also charged with battery and assault, with prosecutors contending that hate crimes were committed because of the victims' race or ethnicity.
Los Angeles Times

Victims ‘kneecapped' by Jerry Brown's prison initiative, advocate says
It was only a press conference, with district attorneys and victims rights groups on Wednesday promoting their opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot initiative to make certain nonviolent felons eligible for early parole. But the fact it came together this early in the election year, the prosecutors said, was an indication that opposition to Brown's initiative will be more organized – if not better funded – than before. Many law enforcement officials remain stung by the passage in 2014 of Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for some drug and property crimes. Opponents of that initiative had difficulty raising money and ran an anemic campaign. Yuba County District Attorney Patrick McGrath, president of the California District Attorneys Association, acknowledged Wednesday that district attorneys will not be able to match the fundraising of Brown, who holds about $24 million in two campaign accounts.
Sacramento Bee

California Legislature Advances New Gun Control Measures
The battle over the Second Amendment has returned to the California Legislature. An Assembly committee approved several new gun control measures Tuesday on party-line votes. One measure would prohibit tools like “bullet buttons” that critics say are used to evade California's ban on assault rifles. “The gun manufacturers have essentially made a mockery of our laws,” says Levine. Democratic Assemblyman Mark Levine is the bill's author. “And if we are going to lead the nation, we need to strengthen our laws to make sure that no one can evade them.” says Levine. Other bills would ban semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and limit gun sales to one per person per month.
Capitol Public Radio


City Government

LA city controller predicts $169.7 million budget shortfall
City Controller Ron Galperin has released two reports showing he projects a $169.7 million budget shortfall that might make Los Angeles dip into its reserves to cover. Galperin said in an interview Wednesday that the shortfall comes mostly from less than expected state money from “property tax in-lieu of sales tax” receipts, a bond repayment mechanism known as Prop. 57 that voters passed in 2004. “Though there will be many competing demands on the treasury in the coming months, we should proceed carefully in order to ensure that we are both fulfilling our commitments and continuing to maintain healthy reserves,” Galperin said in a statement. Galperin said the city will likely need only to borrow some of the reserve funds because the state monies will come in likely next year. “Some of it is just an issue of timing,” Galperin said.
Los Angeles Daily News

City Unveils $100 Million Face-lift Plan for San Pedro Ports O' Call
City leaders Wednesday unveiled a $100 million plan that re-imagines San Pedro's Ports O' Call Village, a 30-acre waterfront dining and retail complex, as a public market featuring an amphitheater and Red Car trolley. One of the first planned changes is to rename the area the San Pedro Public Market, which developers envision as being displayed in large block letters in a style similar to those above Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Ghirardelli sign in San Francisco. The marketplace would include shopping, restaurants and office space, as well as a half-mile promenade and the amphitheater, according to renderings released by The Ratkovich Co. and Jerico Development.
NBC 4

LA Council committee approves DWP rate increases
Proposed Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rate increases were approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council's Energy and Environment Committee, and will now go to the full City Council. Committee chair Felipe Fuentes voiced reservations about the electricity rate proposal, saying he wished there was "a more robust conversation'' by the LADWP board that approved it, but he threw his support behind the water rate plan. "Excited about water, really concerned and nervous about electricity,'' Fuentes said, before agreeing with the rest of the panel to advance the proposals to a City Council vote tomorrow. The council only has the ability to "affirm or deny'' the ratehike plans, which were previously approved by the LADWP board, which is comprised of members appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who supports both proposals.
Fox 11
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About the LAPPL Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:

www.LAPD.com


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