LACP.org
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LACP - NEWS of the Week
on some LACP issues of interest
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NEWS of the Week
 
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles is but a small percentage of the info available to the community policing and neighborhood activist. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view. We present this simply as a convenience to our readership.
"News of the Week"  

August, 2018 - Week 3
MJ Goyings
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Many thanks to our very own "MJ" Goyings, a resident of Ohio,
for her daily research that provides us with the news related material that appears on the LACP & NAASCA web sites.
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Aug 17th :

Law Enforcement News

Phoenix Officer Critical After Exchanging Gunfire With Ambush Suspect
A Phoenix police officer and a suspect have been hospitalized in critical condition after exchanging gunfire during an encounter that the police chief called an ambush. Police said the shooting happened at about 8 p.m. Thursday after the officer in a marked police vehicle attempted a traffic stop in north Phoenix and the driver initially refused to stop. Preliminary information indicated that after the driver stopped, the suspect shot the approaching officer, who returned fire and struck the suspect, said Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, a department spokeswoman.
Associated Press

Man Sentenced To 12 Years For Illinois Officer's Crash Death
A man who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of a southern Illinois police officer who crashed during a 2016 high-speed chase has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Thirty-five-year-old Jason Stoker of Chester didn't attend Thursday's sentencing hearing, but the judge accepted an agreement between prosecutors and the defense for the prison term. He's already in federal prison after being sentenced in May to 15 years in a case involving the sale of methamphetamine.
Associated Press

Detroit Police Officer Dies From Injuries After Aug. 4 Hit-and-Run
The Detroit Police Department said on Wednesday that officer Fadi Shukur, who was severely injured in a hit-and-run incident on August 4, has died overnight. Shukur, 30, had been with the department for a year and a half. "We stand here before you with a heavy heart," Chief James Craig said. "We want to keep his family in our thoughts and prayers. This is an especially difficult for them." Shukur was struck by a car while walking to his cruiser after responding to a crowd control call.
Detroit Free Press

LAPD Promotes First Black Woman To Position Of Deputy Chief
Mayor Eric Garcetti will be joined by other city officials Friday at a reception in Exposition Park for the first black woman promoted to the rank of deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Deputy Chief Regina Scott, formerly commander of the Office of Information Technology Bureau, has served in various positions in all bureaus of the LAPD. In her most recent post she headed up “the design, development and ongoing innovation of the department's automated computer systems,” according to an LAPD news release.
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD Creates Task Force To Crack Down On Illegal Street Racing
Thick smoke, loud exhausts and a need for speed - it's what some call a "street takeover," but police call it illegal street racing. Every traffic unit in the city is now armed with a special enforcement team. "We target locations where street racers gather. We deploy in those areas heavily. We try to block down the streets. We set down spike strips. We do everything we can to try to contain them," Sgt. Greg Fuqua said. It's an urgent issue for the department. They're still trying to find a driver involved in a Northridge crash that left four people dead in October. And it's not the only deadly crash in recent months. "Like the Canoga Speedway incident, where they were racing and the vehicle lost control, went up on the sidewalk and ended up killing three pedestrians," Fuqua said. 
ABC 7

Rapper Young Thug Arrested At Album Release Party
Rapper Young Thug was jailed Friday morning on a weapons charge after being arrested in Hollywood, police said. The rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams, was arrested just before midnight Thursday at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue on suspicion of possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle, according to Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. Williams was held in lieu of a $35,000 bond, Madison said. Young Thug was holding a birthday and listening party at the Dave & Buster's restaurant at the Hollywood and Highland center Thursday night.
FOX 11

Pit Bull Found On South LA Streets Was Not Sexually Abused, LAPD Says
A pit bull that was suspected of being sexually assaulted, thrown from a car and left to die on a South Los Angeles street was not assaulted at all, and its cause of death remains a mystery, police said Thursday. "It is the forensic veterinarian's expert opinion the dog was not sexually assaulted by a person or animal,'' according to the Los Angeles Police Department. "... The opinion of both the treating and forensic veterinarian is that the cause of death is unknown. Lab tests on varying tissue samples are pending to help possibly identify cause of death."
NBC 4

LAPD Has Nearly 30 Cases Against Ex-USC Gynecologist
LAPD detectives have presented the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with nearly 30 cases for possible sex-crime charges against USC's former campus gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall, it was reported Friday. Capt. Billy Hayes, the head of LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, said Thursday that the cases were the result of a sweeping criminal investigation of Tyndall, who treated thousands of women at USC's student health center during a nearly three-decade career, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Times revealed in May that Tyndall was accused repeatedly of misconduct by patients and staff but continued treating students until 2016.
MyNewsLA.com

More Charges For Man Accused In Silver Lake Trader Joe's Death
With prosecutors announcing additional charges against him, bail was increased to $23.1 million Thursday for the man accused of engaging in a gun battle with police that led to the shooting death of a Silver Lake Trader Joe's assistant manager who was struck by a police officer's bullet. Gene Evin Atkins, 28, appeared in court in downtown Los Angeles, but in light of the new charges, including counts of kidnapping and carjacking, his arraignment was postponed until Sept. 19. Atkins is charged with the July 21 killing of Melyda Corado, 27, even though he did not fire the shot that struck her.
Los Angeles Daily News

Search Underway For Missing LA County Fire Captain
Authorities asked for the public's help Thursday in locating a missing 43-year-old Newhall man. Wayne Stuart Habell was last seen leaving his home in Newhall at 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to Deputy Trina Schrader with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Habell is white, 6 feet tall and weighs 225 pounds. He has short brown and blonde hair and green eyes, Schrader said. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt and plaid shorts, Schrader said. His vehicle is a 2008 black Chrysler Aspen with California license plate 6KMB757.
FOX 11

Proposal To Create State-Chartered Banks For California Marijuana Industry Fails To Advance
State lawmakers on Thursday shelved a proposal to allow the state to license private banks to handle the billions of dollars expected to be generated by the state's legal marijuana industry amid questions about the plan's feasibility. Voters approved Proposition 64 in 2016 to legalize growing, possessing and selling marijuana for recreational use, but newly licensed pot shops and farms say they cannot put their money in federally chartered banks because cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) proposed that the state could license special privately financed banks that would issue checks to the businesses to pay rent and state and local taxes and fees, and to compensate vendors for goods and services provided to their businesses.
Los Angeles Times

California Lawmakers Consider Proposal to Eliminate Bail
California would be the first state to completely end bail for defendants awaiting trial under a proposal unveiled Thursday that would create a new system to instead jail people based on their risk level. The plan calls for most suspects arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors to be released within 12 hours of being booked, while those facing serious, violent felonies would not be eligible for pretrial release. Courts and the state's Judicial Council would have wide latitude to determine whether to release other suspects before trial based on the likelihood they'll return to court and the danger they pose. To be released from jail before trial in the current system, many defendants must post bail or property that can be forfeited if they fail to appear in court.
US News

Federal Judge Likely To Allow Suit To Force California To Make All Portions Of Execution Public
A federal judge said Thursday that he was inclined to rule against a motion by the state of California to dismiss much of a lawsuit that seeks to make public all portions of executions. Several news outlets, including The Times, and the ACLU Foundation of Northern California have sued the state to allow public access to the mixing of the chemicals for lethal injections. The suit also seeks to permit the media to observe attempts to administer medical aide to inmates when executions are botched. During a hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said he was inclined “at least at this junction” to deny the state's motion to dismiss those parts of the suit.
Los Angeles Times

Public Safety News

Carr Fire: Redding Firefighter Was Trapped, Killed By 1,000-Foot-Wide Fire Tornado
A massive fire tornado spawned during the Carr Fire trapped and killed a firefighter while decimating a swath of Redding on July 26, according to a new report detailing the horrific incident. The fire whirl struck around 7:30 p.m., reaching speeds up to 165 mph – the equivalent strength of an EF-3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, according to an 18-page Cal Fire report. It was approximately 1,000 feet in diameter at its base; the interior temperature peaked in excess of 2,700 degrees.
KTLA 5

Why California's Largest Fire In History Is So Difficult To Contain
Each day on the front lines of California's largest wildfire, firefighters start their shifts noting their safety zones and escape routes. Flames from the Mendocino Complex are still ripping through thousands of acres a day of steep, mountainous terrain packed with dead oak trees — standing and fallen — and littered with leaves and pine needles. Crews are on especially high alert this week after a firefighter who traveled from Draper City, Utah, to help battle the blaze died Monday while working on an active stretch. Every five or 10 minutes, they're encouraged to “look up, look around and make a sound.” 
Los Angeles Times

California Fires: Firefighters Make Big Gains Containing Biggest Fires
Helped by cooler temperatures and lower humidity, firefighters across California have gained the upper hand this week on the massive wildfires that have been burning hundreds of thousands of acres across the state this summer. As of Thursday, the three largest fires — the Carr Fire near Redding, the Mendocino Complex Fire near Clear Lake and the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park — were all more than 70 percent contained. “We are wrapping up a lot of these fires,” said Scott McLean, deputy chief of Cal Fire, the state's primary firefighting agency.
Mercury News

Local Government News

Metrolink Receives $6.5 Million To Improve SoCal Rail Operations
Metrolink was awarded $6.5 million Thursday in state funding to begin design, rail operations modeling and environmental assessment on a $10 billion plan to improve regional rail before for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The funding from the California Transportation Commission is for the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion -- or SCORE -- Program, and is the first down payment on an $856 million grant from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program to provide grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and Senate Bill 1 to modernize the state's transportation infrastructure.
NBC 4

LA Looking At $590M Downtown Streetcar Line
A Los Angeles City Council committee is looking at the funding plan to build, operate and maintain a streetcar line downtown. The four-mile streetcar line would travel through key parts of downtown and could be funded through a combination of federal grants, county Metro funds and local dollars. City Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents much of the downtown area, called the project "shovel-ready" with $590 million in secured funding.
ABC 7

Gondolas From Union Station To Dodger Stadium One Step Closer To Becoming A Reality
It's not quite a mission to Mars, but people seem just as excited at the news the plan to send people to Dodger Stadium through the air might be one step closer to becoming a reality. Los Angeles Metro on Tuesday sent a formal request for information on the proposed aerial tram project floated back in April. Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted the gondola plan “has taken another key step forward,” saying that when it is completed, it “is expected to carry 5,000+ passengers per hour in each direction & take less than 5 min to go between Union Station & Dodgers Stadium.”
CBS 2
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Aug 16th :

Law Enforcement News

Suspected Islamic State Member Accused Of Killing Police Officer In Iraq Arrested In Sacramento, Where He Settled As Refugee
A suspected member of Islamic State accused of killing a police officer in Iraq was arrested Wednesday in Sacramento, where he had settled as a refugee and sought to obtain a green card, federal authorities said. Authorities allege that Omar Ameen, 45, entered his hometown of Rawa, a city of about 20,000 on the Euphrates River, in June 2014 with a caravan of four Islamic State vehicles and opened fire on the officer's home. The officer returned fire, and Ameen shot him while he was on the ground, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court. The officer died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
KTLA 5

North Carolina Deputy Shot In Face, Suspect Captured
A Cleveland County Sheriff's Office deputy was shot on U.S. 74 near Kings Mountain late Tuesday night and then airlifted by helicopter to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, according to Sheriff Alan Norman. The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday between Kings Mountain and Shelby. The deputy, who was shot in the face and thigh, had apparently stopped to talk to the suspect who was wanted on probation or parole violations. The suspect was later captured in Cabarrus County and has been brought back to Cleveland County to face charges. His name has not been released.
Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, N.C.

California Lawmakers To Decide Fate Of Police Accountability Bills
California Democrats launched two major legislative efforts this year to make police misconduct records publicly accessible and tighten rules for when officers can use lethal force, both in response to highly publicized law enforcement shootings. They're about to find out whether either measure will pass crucial votes by fiscal committees in the Assembly and Senate. The bills are among 600 pieces of legislation that will decided in rapid succession by appropriations committees on Thursday. A memorial wall of officers killed on duty was displayed outside the Capitol on Wednesday. Inside the building, the Los Angeles Police Protection League set up a simulator that is used to train officers in use-of-force scenarios and invited lawmakers to try it out. “We wanted to make sure that lawmakers have the proper perspective and context to the split-second decisions that officers make,” said Robert Harris of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “This bill is bad for police officers and our communities.”
San Francisco Chronicle

Stolen Vehicle Suspect Collides With Innocent Driver After Police Chase In South LA
The driver of a stolen car collided with an innocent driver at the end of a police chase Wednesday morning in South Los Angeles, leaving at least two people injured, authorities said. The collision happened shortly before 2 a.m. near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 48th Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. At the moment of impact, the stolen vehicle was traveling eastbound on 48th and the other car was heading southbound on Vermont, an LAPD spokesperson said. The two women in the latter vehicle were treated for injuries at the scene.
ABC 7

LAPD Says Illegal Street Racing Crash Leaves Valley Couple And Unborn Child Dead
Los Angeles police believe that illegal street racing is to blame in a crash that killed a couple and an unborn child in the area of Northridge and Reseda on July 4. Pablo Elias of Van Nuys and his girlfriend, Maria Verenice Basilio of Reseda, both 25 years old, died after sustaining injuries in the collision on Roscoe Boulevard at Corbin Avenue about 8:05 p.m on Independence Day, according to Sgt. Gregory Fuqua of LAPD's Valley Traffic Division. Basilio was about eight months pregnant. “Based on witness statements, video footage and the speed of the vehicles, our detectives classified it as a street racing incident,” Fuqua said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Three Suspects Arrested In Killing Of Gang Intervention Worker Celebrated As A Peacemaker
Garry “Twin” Dorton tried to keep young people in South Los Angeles from making the same mistakes he did when he was an active gang member. He helped them get jobs and stay out of trouble. After a killing, he talked them out of retaliating. He led his neighborhood in a softball league that aimed to build peace among Crips gangs. But mediating disputes between gangs can be dangerous work. On July 1, Dorton was fatally shot outside a friend's house on the 4500 block of South Van Ness Avenue. The peacemaker had become a target. Los Angeles police Wednesday announced the arrest of three men in their teens and early 20s — the very group that Dorton, 48, devoted his life to saving — in connection with his death.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Looking For BMW Driver Caught On Video Apparently Hitting Parking Attendant With Car
Officials searching for a man who apparently intended to hit a parking attendant with his car in downtown Los Angeles released surveillance video of the incident on Wednesday. The altercation happened in the 800 block of South Figueroa Street at around 11:30 p.m. on June 9, according to Los Angeles police. The video shows a driver speak to a parking attendant while apparently having trouble getting out of the facility. The two soon appear to get into an argument. At some point, the driver starts trying to lift the gate to exit the structure. The employee attempts to stop the driver and walks in front of the vehicle, footage shows.
KTLA 5

Police Searching For Harbor City Marijuana Dispensary Burglars
Police are searching for three burglary suspects wanted in connection with a break-in at a marijuana dispensary in Harbor City. The burglary happened July 5, in a strip mall off Pacific Coast Highway. Surveillance video shows the men entering the business by prying, cutting, and kicking the front door and interior gate. They grabbed numerous marijuana products and paraphernalia before leaving the store. Police say the three left in a four-door sedan, possibly a Jaguar, with tinted windows and chrome rims.
ABC 7

Bomb Threat Prompts Evacuation Of Woodland Hills School; Search Finds Nothing Threatening
A telephoned bomb threat Wednesday afternoon prompted the evacuation of a high school in Woodland Hills. A police search later turned up no evidence of a valid threat. The threat was received about 12:50 p.m. at Louisville High School in the 2300 block of Mulholland Drive, according to Officer Tony Im of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations office. According to a Twitter posting by the LAPD's Topanga Station, the threat was “reported secondhand” and triggered a precautionary search of the private Catholic girls' school campus, which had its first day of classes on Monday. 
Los Angeles Daily News

Arraignment Set For Man Charged In Death Of Silver Lake Trader Joe's Manager
A man accused of engaging in a running gun battle with police, leading to the shooting death of an assistant manager at a Trader Joe's in Silver Lake who was struck by an LAPD officer's bullet, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on murder and other charges. Gene Evin Atkins, 28, is charged with the July 21 killing of Melyda Corado, 27, even though he did not fire the shot that struck her. Under state law, he was charged with her killing because he allegedly set off the chain of events that led to her death. Atkins allegedly shot his 76-year-old grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Madison, as many as seven times and shot a 17-year-old girl around 1:30 p.m.
MyNewsLA.com

$25K Reward Announced In 2011 Murder Of 19-Year-Old LASD Explorer, Friend
Authorities hope a new $25,000 reward will lead to an arrest in the murder of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department explorer and his friend seven years ago. Cesar Rodriguez, 19, and his friend Larry Villegas were shot and killed outside a home near Whittier in 2011. Rodriguez was a volunteer at the sheriff's Norwalk station and was planning on becoming a deputy. Villegas was a 24-year-old mechanic for Caterpillar, as well as a father of one with another baby on the way at the time of his death. Investigators believe Rodriguez may have been mistaken for a gang member.
ABC 7

A Dozen Suspected Puente 13 Gang Members In SoCal Arrested On Narcotics, Fraud Charges
A dozen alleged gang members were arrested on federal narcotics and fraud charges, the result of a months-long investigation into the Puente 13 street gang, federal authorities said Wednesday, Aug. 15. The arrests took place Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, authorities said. The 12 arrested are among 17 defendants named in a series of indictments returned by a federal grand jury that allege various offenses, including narcotics, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. The other five defendants were already in federal and state custody, authorities said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Public Safety News

LA County Considers Alerting Prescribers To Opioid Deaths As Prevention Tool
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to consider notifying prescribing physicians when a patient dies of an opioid overdose, as a way to make doctors think twice about prescribing the drugs. Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis recommended the alerts, citing research published by Dr. Jonathan Lucas, the county's chief medical examiner-coroner. "Opioid addiction is unique -- it doesn't start at a party or on the streets -- it starts in a doctor's office,'' Hahn said.
NBC 4

Fire Agencies Ramp Up Mental Health Help As Disaster Fires Take Physical And Emotional Toll On Firefighters
As flames and destruction grip the state, firefighters and their families are dealing with stress and emotional pain on a scale never seen before, veteran firefighters say. To help crews cope, departments are ramping up emotional assistance resources and urging fire crews to acknowledge the psychological pain their jobs can cause. At Cal Fire headquarters in El Cajon, flags fly at half-staff, as a tribute to six firefighters and equipment operators that have died in the line-of-duty in just the last four weeks.
NBC 4

Local Government News

LA City Council Seeks New Regulations For Developments Near Freeways
The Los Angeles City Council moved forward Tuesday with efforts to cut down on the potential health impacts for residents of freeway-adjacent developments. On a 10-0 vote, the council directed city staff to take a number of actions, which include developing proposed new guidelines -- aimed at protecting public health -- for schools, daycare facilities and senior care centers within 1,000 feet of a freeway, and drafting an ordinance that would establish electric vehicle requirements for new developments that exceed current state standards.
NBC 4

L.A. City Council Committees At Odds Over Scooter Speeds
A Los Angeles City Council committee recommended Wednesday that the top speed of dockless electric scooters used in the city be capped at 15 mph, not 12 mph as a different committee had suggested. The move came as the city grapples with a series of potential regulations for the devices, which have proliferated over the last year in Westside communities and other areas. Acting at the request of City Councilman Mike Bonin, the Transportation Committee last week recommended that the top speed of all scooters be capped at 12 mph. 
MyNewsLA.com
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Aug 15th :

Law Enforcement News

Man Sentenced To Jail For Biting LAPD Officer, Gouging Another Officer's Eyes At AT&T Store In Tarzana: DA
A 24-year-old man received a jail sentence after entering a no contest plea in connection with an attack on two LAPD officers earlier this year in Tarzana, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday. Jacob Smith of Northridge entered the plea to two felony counts of battery with injury on a peace officer, according to a DA's news release. He was sentenced to 344 days in jail, three years of probation and has to complete a dual diagnosis treatment program, the release stated. Smith attacked the two Los Angeles Police Department officers when they responded to an alarm triggered by the defendant on the night of Feb. 19 at the AT&T Store, authorities said.
KTLA 5

Part Of 10 Freeway To Be Named For Slain Pomona Officer
Part of the 10 Freeway in Upland will be renamed in honor of a fallen Pomona police officer. Officer Gregory Casillas, 30, was shot to death in March as he and his partner approached an apartment where a reckless-driving suspect was holed up. The 10 Freeway between North San Antonio Avenue and Mountain Avenue will be named after Casillas. A date for the official dedication hasn't been announced yet. His accused shooter, Isaias Valencia, is in custody facing murder and other charges.
ABC 7

LAPD Chief Proposes A ‘Radical Solution': Eliminate Old Bench Warrants For Homeless People
The Los Angeles Police Department is considering a plan that would allow thousands of homeless people to eliminate old bench warrants as part of a larger effort to reform a system that has created a vicious cycle for those with nowhere to live. LAPD Chief Michel Moore described the proposal as a “radical solution” to ease the pressure on the court system, jails and police stations, which are being overwhelmed daily with hundreds of people arrested on these warrants. Moore said the amnesty ideas would cover only longstanding bench warrants for homeless people who failed to show up in court for minor offenses. He stressed that the LAPD has no plans to change how officers enforce various “quality-of-life” crimes but hoped the shift would result in a more effective, streamlined process for handling these cases.
Los Angeles Times

For LA Police, Back-to-School Day Prompts Traffic Safety Reminders
Police used the first day of school Tuesday in the Los Angeles Unified School District to remind commuters to be extra careful. Students took a safety pledge, with LAPD and school police urging students and parents to be cautious as extra back-to-school traffic clogs local streets and drivers find themselves in a hurry trying to drop off the kids and get to work. LAPD traffic Officer Chad Dellinger was among the officers at Lankershim Elementary School in North Hollywood, preaching the message. 
Los Angeles Daily News

LAPD Officers Who Shoot Someone Must Now Wait Longer Before Returning To Field
Los Angeles police officers who fire their gun and injure someone will be required to wait at least two weeks before returning to field duty under a policy change approved Tuesday by the city's police commission. Under previous protocol, officers have had to wait at least until a briefing was given to the police chief — usually within 72 hours of a shooting incident — before resuming their jobs in the field. The change was among several approved by the Los Angeles Police Commission at Tuesday's meeting of the civilian panel in downtown L.A. “The impacts on the officers (from an officer-involved shooting) are deep and dramatic and go on for a long time,” said Steve Soboroff, president of the commission, which sets department policy.
Los Angeles Daily News

Pursuit Driver Crashes Into SUV After Running Red Light In South L.A., Police Say
Several people were injured when a vehicle being pursued by authorities was involved in a traffic collision in the Vermont Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles Wednesday morning. The incident began when officers spotted a stolen vehicle and attempted to make a stop, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Josh Rider said. The driver, believed to be a female, sped away with three passengers inside the tan colored Honda Civic.
KTLA 5

LAPD Raids Unpermitted Pot Grow In Panorama City
A burglary call in Panorama City led to the discovery of an extensive unpermitted marijuana growing operation, police said Tuesday. Officers were alerted about 3:50 a.m. Sunday to a burglary in progress in the 13000 block of Saticoy Street and upon arrival detained a half-dozen suspects, who were subsequently arrested, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which reported that five of the six “have extensive criminal backgrounds and have gang affiliations.” “While completing a search of the location for additional suspects, the officers observed a large size cannabis grow within the commercial building,” and “determined the location does not have a legal Department of Cannabis Enforcement permit to cultivate marijuana,” according to an LAPD statement.
Los Angeles Daily News

Gunmen Caught On Video Robbing South LA Taco Truck
Police released video of armed men robbing a taco truck in South Los Angeles, pistol whipping a worker in the process. Officers were called about 3:10 a.m. on July 14 to the 1300 block of West Manchester Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. "When the officers arrived, they discovered that three suspects had entered the taco truck parked at the location and robbed the workers at gunpoint,'' according to an LAPD statement. ``One of the victims was pistol-whipped during the incident.”
FOX 11

12 Arrested During Investigation Of ‘Family-Based' Heroin Network In L.A., Ventura Counties
Several people linked to a “family-based” heroin organization that operated in Los Angeles and Ventura counties have been arrested, officials announced on Tuesday. Jose Gonzalez-Chaidez, a 57-year-old L.A. resident who also lived part time in Mexico, allegedly headed a heroin distribution network, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. He was arrested in his apartment in Valley Village after warrants were served on Aug. 10. Authorities reported finding suspected drug proceeds and about 2 kilograms of heroin in the residence. Officials also took 55-year-old Abraham Chaidez into custody at his house in Palmdale, the agency said. They also found suspected drug proceeds at the residence, the Sheriff's Office added. He had been spotted dealing heroin to L.A.-based customers on multiple occasions, officials said.
KTLA 5

California Could Reshape Pot Rules As Legal Market Struggles
The nation's largest legal marijuana market is struggling. Illicit sales continue to thrive. A shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops. There are testing problems. And a proposal to allow home marijuana deliveries in cities that have banned pot sales could lead to a courtroom fight. A Los Angeles hearing Tuesday provided a window into the state's emerging cannabis economy, in which early enthusiasm for broad legal sales has been followed by anxiety and frustration across a swath of the industry. The state's top marijuana regulator, Lori Ajax, said after the hearing that the state remains in a challenging transition period as it attempts to transform what was once a largely illegal market into a multibillion-dollar, regulated economy.
Associated Press

Public Safety News

Utah Firefighter Who Died In California Offered To Help
Matthew Burchett said goodbye to his wife and 7-year-old son in early August, volunteering to travel with 37 fellow firefighters from Utah to help battle record-setting blazes in California. Burchett was hit by a falling tree and died Monday night while fighting the largest blaze in California history, the Mendocino Complex fire north of San Francisco. Cal Fire division chief Todd Derum told the Press Democrat that Burchett was battling flames downstream of a dam when he and three other firefighters were hit by the tree. Cal Fire did not respond to questions about the condition of the other firefighters.
US News

GOP Lawmaker Proposes California Utility Companies Pay Into A New State Fund To Defray Wildfire Costs
With negotiations intensifying over how California's electric utilities should help pay to fight wildfires, a prominent Republican lawmaker says the companies should contribute to a new multibillion-dollar fund that would help mitigate those expenses. The proposal by Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) would create the California Wildfire Insurance Fund, a pool of money collected from utility companies that could be used to cover some of the “extraordinary costs arising from wildfires,” according to the draft legislation. The plan would help utilities that act prudently, while reducing the impact from future fires on utility ratepayers, Mayes said. “This fund ensures victims of wildfires can quickly rebuild their lives, and utility investors have to help pay for that,” he said.
Los Angeles Times

San Fernando Valley Mosquito Samples Confirmed Positive For West Nile Virus
Ten mosquito samples collected from six communities in the San Fernando Valley tested positive for West Nile virus, the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District announced Monday. The samples were collected in Encino, Northridge, Panorama City, Porter Ranch, Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys, said Kelly Middleton, the district's director of community affairs. “We are beginning to see the anticipated increase in West Nile virus activity in the region," Middleton said. "Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported a total of six human infections in the county so far this year, so the time to start taking this seriously is now."
NBC 4

Local Government News

Los Angeles Is First In US To Install Subway Body Scanners
Los Angeles' subway will become the first mass transit system in the U.S. to install body scanners that screen passengers for weapons and explosives, officials said Tuesday. The deployment of the portable scanners, which project waves to do full-body screenings of passengers walking through a station without slowing them down, will happen in the coming months, said Alex Wiggins, who runs the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's law enforcement division.
CBS 2

Van Nuys, LAX Airport Need Security Review After Man Finds Way Into Plane, Flies To Death, LA Leader Says
A city councilman said Tuesday that he wants officials at Los Angeles International Airport and Van Nuys Airport to report on security protocols, in light of an incident last week in Seattle where an airline employee stole a plane belonging to his employer and crashed it after performing stunts and being chased by military jets. Richard Russell, 29, was the only occupant aboard the Horizon Air- owned Bombadier Q400 turboprop plane which was stolen Friday evening from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and crashed on Ketron Island southwest of Tacoma.
Los Angeles Daily News

L.A. County To Expand Mobile Shower Program For Homeless People
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand a pilot program to offer homeless people access to hygiene via mobile showers. The motion approved by the board will set aside up to $200,000 from Homeless Initiative funds to pay for the operation of one or more mobile shower trailers owned by the county's Office of Emergency Management. The county's chief executive officer will work with the Los Angeles Homeless Services
Los Angeles Times
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Aug 14th :

Law Enforcement News

Seven Hurt, Including Two LAPD Officers, In Lake Balboa Crash
A roll-over collision in Lake Balboa Monday night involving two vehicles, one of them a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser, left seven people injured, including two officers. A civilian SUV overturned in the crash, which was reported about 8:05 p.m. in the 6400 block of Hayvenhurst Avenue, near Victory Boulevard, Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said. A total of nine people, two of them uninjured juveniles who were in the SUV, were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Humphrey said. 
Los Angeles Daily News

Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Hit-and-Run After Girlfriend Fatally Struck By Truck In South L.A.
A man was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run after his girlfriend got out of the truck he was driving and was fatally struck in South L.A., authorities announced Monday. The incident occurred about 8:55 p.m. Aug. 11 near the intersection of McKinley Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard in the Historic South-Central neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The woman got out of a pick up truck driven by Rudy Zacarias for an unknown reason while the truck was still moving. The victim was hit by the rear tires of the truck, police said. She was taken to a hospital where she eventually died from her injuries. Zacarias, 24, allegedly drove away from the scene.
KTLA 5

As LAUSD Students Return To School, LAPD Hopes To Prevent Traffic Tragedies
Retired Los Angeles police Detective William Bustos will never forget the crossing guard who was fatally struck by a car one fall morning in 2000 in North Hollywood. William Hooper, 60, of Tujunga succumbed to the injuries he sustained on the job while helping students cross the street to Lankershim Elementary School. The young driver who struck him had been blinded by the sun's glare. “It was very tragic,” said Bustos, who investigated that collision. “We don't want it to happen again.” The reserve officer plans to return to the same school Tuesday, Aug. 14, with an important safety message for parents, students and the general public: pay attention, abide by the rules of the road and use common sense, including keeping your windshield clean. “A child cannot get his or her education if he cannot make it to school safely,” Bustos said.
Los Angeles Daily News

Video Shows Man Touching, Exposing Himself On Expo Line Train
A woman headed home on the Expo Line late Monday night got an unwelcome show – a man touching and exposing himself through his shorts. So the woman whipped hers out – a cell phone. She recorded video of the man reclining on the seat with his back against the train, one foot up on the seat, his elbow resting on his knee. The lewd display happened at about 10:45 p.m. Monday on the Expo Line out of the Sepulveda station. The man wore sunglasses, a black T-shirt and what appeared to be green shorts. As soon as he exited the train on Bundy, she alerted the train's conductor, but he said he couldn't do anything to detain the man. So she filed a police report with the LAPD.
CBS 2

Caught On Video: Man Attempts To Break Into Studio City Home
Cameras were rolling as a man attempted to break into a Studio City home early Sunday morning, on Aug. 5. The suspect attempts to get into the home after watching a woman go inside moments earlier, near the corner of Moorpark Street and Colfax Avenue. Following the incident, the homeowners have been very vigilant, making their own flyers and posting on their "Next Door" app about this attempted home invasion. The woman in the video is a cousin of the home owners, and she was visiting from out of town. She was coming home after a late night out, and a man can be seen attempting to break into the home minutes later.
NBC 4

Report: LAPD Looking Into Video Of Man Who Spanked Hippo At LA Zoo
He might have done it for the ‘Gram, but now a man who crossed a barricade guarding a hippopotamus enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo is looking at potential trespassing charges after he was filmed spanking one of the animals. The Los Angeles Times reports the video started making the rounds on social media last week. It shows a man slowly climbing a metal guardrail, inching his way towards a 4-year-old hippo and its mother, the paper said. He then slaps Rosie, the young pachyderm, and immediately retreats before holding up his hands triumphantly. Rosie and mother Mara seem startled by the hit.
CBS 2

Golden State Killer Suspect Is Charged With 13th Murder, This Time In Tulare County
Claude Snelling woke in the night 42 years ago to find a man in his Visalia backyard trying to abduct his 16-year-old daughter. He tried to intervene and was fatally shot. Tulare County prosecutors on Monday filed a murder charge against Joseph DeAngelo, 72, bringing the deaths he is accused of to 13 and resolving four decades of police disagreement over whether the Visalia attacker was the same person suspected of killing a Sacramento suburban couple and later raping and slaying 10 people in Southern California — crimes now attributed to the Golden State Killer.
Los Angeles Times

California High Court Sides With Police In Fight Over Chase Crashes
The California Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lawsuit that could have made it easier to hold police in the state liable for crashes during pursuits. A state law that gives law enforcement agencies broad protection from lawsuits arising from such collisions does not require that every officer attest to having read the agency's pursuit policy, the court ruled unanimously. The ruling came in a lawsuit against the Southern California city of Gardena by Irma Ramirez, whose son was killed in 2015 after an officer bumped his pickup truck during a chase. Under the state law, law enforcement agencies are immune from liability if they have a written pursuit policy, provide annual training about chases and require that all officers certify in writing that they have read and understood the policy.
NBC 4

482 California Cities Oppose Plan To Allow Pot Delivery In Areas Where Storefronts Are Banned
California cities on Monday objected to a state proposal that would allow marijuana delivery to homes in areas where storefront pot sales have been banned locally. The changes, which are being considered by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, “will undermine a city's ability to effectively regulate cannabis at the local level,” said Charles Harvey, a legislative representative for the League of California Cities, in a letter to the bureau. The cities group, which represents the state's 482 municipalities, supports other changes to clarify the rules of Proposition 64, which was approved by voters in 2016 and allows the growing and sale of marijuana for recreational use.
KTLA 5

NY Police, Towns Use Drone Technology As Their Eyes In The Sky
Long Island municipalities and police departments are flying drones — once used primarily by the military and hobbyists — for public safety, firefighting and town planning. Officials are using drone footage to guide firefighters at perilous scenes, monitor municipal property and evaluate storm damage. Most recently, state park police flew drones to look for sharks last month after two children were reported bitten in the ocean off Fire Island. “It's become one of our go-to tools very quickly,” Smithtown Public Safety Chief John Valentine said. Smithtown, one of Long Island's earliest and most aggressive adopters of drone technology, began using drones to conduct damage assessments after superstorm Sandy in 2012 and has since expanded to other planning and public safety applications. 
Newsday

Utah Code-Enforcement Officer Murdered On-Duty
Police have arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of a code-enforcement officer and are investigating a nearby house fire as arson. Police said Jill Robinson, 52, was conducting a routine follow-up Thursday morning. They say Kevin Wayne Billings, 64, allegedly shot Robinson and set fire to her city vehicle. He was booked into jail for investigation of aggravated arson and aggravated murder and for arson, reported the Salt Lake Tribune. A deputy police chief told the Tribune that code-enforcement officers are city employees and are unarmed. They typically deal with issues such as weed control and abandoned vehicles.
PoliceOne

Police Bodycams Can be Hacked to Doctor Footage
At the DefCon security conference in Las Vegas on Saturday, though, one researcher will present findings that many body cameras on the market today are vulnerable to remote digital attacks, including some that could result in the manipulation of footage. Josh Mitchell, a consultant at the security firm Nuix, analyzed five body camera models from five different companies: Vievu, Patrol Eyes, Fire Cam, Digital Ally, and CeeSc. The companies all market their devices to law enforcement groups around the US. Mitchell's presentation does not include market leader Axon—although the company did acquire Vievu in May.
Wired

Public Safety News

Firefighter From Utah Dies Battling Mendocino Complex, The Largest Wildfire In California
A firefighter from Utah died Monday battling the largest wildfire in recorded California history, marking the latest fatality in a fire season that has taken a grim toll on first responders. The firefighter, who was not named, was injured while working on an active portion of the Ranch fire within the massive Mendocino Complex. He was airlifted to a hospital, where he died. Authorities said “fact-finding on the accident” is underway. “We are extremely heartbroken for this loss. We are dedicated to investigating what happened,” said Sean Kavanaugh, an incident commander for the complex, at a brief news conference. “We mourn as we also battle California's largest wildfire that continues to to burn extremely steep and remote terrain.”
Los Angeles Times

LA Clinic Offering Free Vaccinations For Children, Adults
The Saban Community Clinic is offering free vaccinations for children and adults on Monday, just in time for the start of classes within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The day-long vaccination drive is aimed at low-income families who cannot afford the almost $1,200 price tag for required vaccinations. Located at 5205 Melrose Avenue, the clinic will have its doors open from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
ABC 7

Local Government News

Homeless Shelter Proposed At Former Canoga Park Mental Health Facility
A former mental health facility in Canoga Park is being proposed as short-term housing for homeless people. Members of the public will have a chance to learn more about the idea during a community meeting Tuesday. The potential homeless housing site, at 7621 Canoga Ave., was proposed by County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who introduced a motion earlier this year to enter into a purchase option agreement with the owner, Gelb Enterprises. The agreement would keep the property off the market for about six months while the site is being considered for purchase.
Los Angeles Daily News

Plan To Demolish Rent-Controlled Units For Affordable Housing In Westlake Sparks Backlash
Housing groups are criticizing a developer's plan to displace dozens of residents from rent-controlled bungalows in the working-class neighborhood of Westlake to make way for a $64-million affordable housing project. Nonprofit developer Abode Communities is seeking to build a 100-unit affordable housing project on Grand View Street, near MacArthur Park. The developer plans to demolish 36 rent-controlled apartments, where some residents pay less than $900 a month. Abode is applying for public funds, including money from Proposition HHH, a voter-approved bond, to help pay for the new building, said Robin Hughes, chief executive of Abode Communities.
Los Angeles Times
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Law Enforcement News

CHP Motorcycle Officer Killed In Crash
A California Highway Patrol officer was killed Friday during a traffic stop. According to SF Gate, 46-year-old Officer Kirk Griess had pulled over a driver, Jaime Bueza, when a pickup truck veered onto the right shoulder, striking both the officer and Bueza. Both Bueza and Griess died at a hospital. The truck driver was treated and being interviewed by investigators. It's not clear what caused the truck driver to crash and he is not under arrest, according to the report. Griess was a former Marine veteran and a 19-year veteran of the CHP. He is survived by his wife and three children.
PoliceOne

L.A. Sheriff's Deputy Shoots Man Who Punched Jailer And Dragged Her Into Holding Cell, Officials Say
A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy shot and critically wounded a man Friday afternoon after he attacked a jailer at the Lakewood station, officials said. A deputy shot the man at least twice about 12:50 p.m., sheriff's Deputy Marvin Crowder said. The suspect was shot once in the chest and once in the arm, officials said. The man, whose name was not released, had been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car. While being fingerprinted, he punched the custody assistant in the face, according to Lt. John Corina with the Sheriff's Department homicide bureau, who reviewed video footage of the attack.
Los Angeles Times

Video: Florida Cops Escort Son Of Wounded Officer To Kindergarten
A group of Florida police officers escorted the son of their wounded comrade to his first day of kindergarten. Caleb's father, Officer Kevin Valencia, was shot in the face in June while responding to a domestic violence call in which the suspect killed four children before taking his own life. Valencia is in a coma and is being treated in Atlanta. Orlando Police Chief John Mina said members of Valencia's squad took Caleb and his mother to school Friday. Mina said it was an emotional day, but the boy was excited to show off his Lego Batman book bag. The Orlando Sentinel reports Caleb high-fived his mom before walking into the classroom as the officers stood by.
Associated Press

Man, Woman Found Fatally Shot In Westlake Neighborhood; Investigation Underway: LAPD
An investigation was underway after a man and woman were found fatally shot in the Westlake district of Los Angeles on Friday, authorities said. A call regarding the incident in the 1700 block of James M. Wood Boulevard came in about 12:16 p.m., according to Officer Norma Eisenman with the Los Angeles Police Department. Law enforcement officers were seen putting up crime scene tape in front of the entrance to an apartment complex, video showed. A gun was left at the scene, and no outstanding suspects were being sought, LAPD Officer Tony Im told KTLA. It was not immediately known if the case was a murder-suicide since the investigation was ongoing, officials stated.
KTLA 5

Man In 70s Struck, Killed In Downtown LA Hit-and-Run
A search is underway for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a man walking in a crosswalk in downtown Los Angeles early Friday, police say. The crime was captured on surveillance video. Los Angeles police responded to a call of a pedestrian struck shortly before 5:30 a.m. near 3rd Street and Union Avenue. They said a 78-year-old man, identified as Byung Gyu Yu, was crossing the street when he was fatally struck by an SUV that then fled the scene. Authorities said he lived at the nearby senior living facility The Steel Plaza Apartments.
ABC 7

3 Sought In Marijuana Dispensary Burglary In Harbor City
Police asked for the public's help Friday in identifying three individuals who stole some marijuana products after breaking into a dispensary in Harbor City. A group of men forced their way into a business located in a strip mall on Pacific Coast Highway the morning of July 5, Los Angeles Police Department said. The perpetrators, believed to be 18 to 21 years old, allegedly managed to go through three doors before taking some paraphernalia and placing them into a bag and cardboard box.
KTLA 5

Mother Arrested After 2 Young Children Found Locked In Hot Car In Van Nuys
A mother was arrested after her two young children were found locked in a hot car in Van Nuys Friday afternoon. According to Los Angeles police, at around noon, passersby called 911 after discovering the children (a girl, 3, and a boy ,2) sitting in a locked car in the 14000 block of Friar Street amid 90-degree temperatures. Before Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived on scene, however, the mother returned and let children out of the vehicle. The mother, 32-year-old Sannah Rahim, was booked on misdemeanor charges of child endangerment, police disclosed.
CBS 2

John Mayer's Beverly Hills-Area Home Burglarized
Singer and guitarist John Mayer appears to be the latest victim in a series of burglaries targeting celebrities in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area. Mayer's Beverly Hills-area home was burglarized Friday, TMZ reported. Los Angeles police reported that a home in the 2800 block of Wallingford Drive in Benedict Canyon, northwest of Beverly Hills, was burglarized, with the suspect or suspects taking property and fleeing the scene, but a spokesman said he had no information about who owned the house.
FOX 11

Video Shows Drivers Doing Doughnuts, Narrowly Missing Onlookers After Taking Over South L.A. Intersection
Several drivers took over a South Los Angeles intersection in order to show off early Monday morning. The incident occurred about midnight at the intersection of South Broadway and West 131st Street in the unincorporated Willowbrook area. At one point, video showed three vehicles simultaneously doing doughnuts in the intersection. Onlookers holding their cellphones were standing within a few feet of the cars and some even appeared to be making a game of dodging the spinning vehicles as smoke filled the air. It is unclear if any arrests were made.
KTLA 5

Carla Provost Is Named Border Patrol's First Female Chief
The U.S. Border Patrol has its first female chief in its 94-year history. Carla Provost had been acting chief since April 2017, so her appointment Thursday by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan was no surprise. The position is not subject to Senate confirmation. Only about 5 percent of the Border Patrol's nearly 20,000 agents are women. Provost says women who have climbed through the ranks send a signal and that, while she's the first female chief, she won't be the last.
Associated Press

Public Safety News

Firefighters Get A Handle On The Holy Fire, Containment Jumps To 51%
As the smoke began to clear above Lake Elsinore, firefighters took heart Sunday as they appeared to gain control of the Holy fire, with containment at 51 percent and 22,714 acres consumed. “I'm just thinking we turned the bend here,” U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Vickie Wright said of the wildfire that had burned out of control for nearly a week. More fire evacuees got word Sunday they could return to their homes after the blaze that officials say was set Aug. 6 by an arsonist in Orange County.
Los Angeles Daily News

Break In The Weather Helps California Firefighters Battle Massive Blazes Across State
Cooler, calmer weather is helping firefighters get a handle on battling the largest wildfires burning across California and preventing new blazes from getting out of control. Temperatures are cooling slightly, and humidity is inching upward due to a weakened high-pressure system that forecasters say will persist through Tuesday. Though conditions remain far from ideal, they're an improvement from just a few days ago and a welcome respite from the scorching, high-risk conditions that fueled some of the biggest, most destructive fires in California history.
Los Angeles Times

In Emergencies, Cell Phone Alerts Can Be Too Slow To Save Lives. Can The System Be Fixed?
Before the Carr Fire gutted the western edge of Redding, causing eight deaths and leveling more than a thousand homes, local emergency services in the Northern California region sent out 59 “Code Red” evacuation warnings to various areas, including at least three aimed at pinging 31,979 nearby cell phones with urgent alerts, according to the Shasta Area Safety Communications Agency. Some of those critical messages missed people living in the Redding neighborhoods hit first as fire blew across the Sacramento River on July 26 — a fatal lack of effective communication that is disturbingly common during California disasters.
Sacramento Bee

Local Government News

LA Extends ‘Successful' Portable Restroom Program For Homeless; Adds New Locations
The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to extend a program which provides monitored mobile restrooms throughout the city to serve the growing homeless population. The council unanimously approved extending the Mobile Pit Stop Program through July of 2019 and add it to three more locations in downtown L.A. The program, which was first approved in October 2017, currently has portable toilets and handwashing stations in eight locations, including Skid Row and Venice. All eight toilets are monitored by attendants. Five are mobile toilets and three are automatic public toilets.
CBS 2

Proposed LA Streetcar Moves Forward With $590M Funding Plan
A four-mile streetcar through downtown Los Angeles moved closer to reality after a $590 million funding plan outlined how a combination of federal grants, county Metro funds and local dollars could lead to groundbreaking on the project in the near future. Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents much of the downtown area, called the project "shovel-ready" and will oversee a hearing on the plan Tuesday during a meeting of the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee, which he chairs.
NBC 4
 
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