Law Enforcement

Judge throws fuel on battle over officer privacy
In the last few days of 2010, a Los Angeles judge issued a critical opinion in the ongoing struggle over privacy between law enforcement unions and civil liberties advocates. On December 30, Judge Joseph Di Loreto barred the release of the names of Long Beach Police Department officers in response to a Public Records Act request from the Los Angeles Times. The request was filed after an unarmed man holding a garden hose nozzle was shot to death by LBPD officers on December 12. The dead man, Douglas Zerby, was drunk and pointing the nozzle at passersby as if it were a gun.
KALW Bay Area

Cops: Man kills wife, daughter before leaping to death
LAPD detectives say the man killed his wife and daughter, then jumped from a 12 story building. A double-murder-suicide has shocked residents of an area that has seen its share of violence as L.A. police detectives try to find out why a man killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life. It began at 10:30 Sunday morning with L.A. police receiving a 911 call of a dead family member in the 25200 block of South Petroleum Ave in the Harbor City area.
KTLA

SWAT officers arrest 1 at suspected meth lab in Sylmar home
Los Angeles police arrested one person Friday at a suspected methamphetamine lab in Sylmar, where SWAT officers confiscated narcotics and weapons and evacuated part of the property. The unidentified suspect was being held Friday morning on narcotics and weapons charges, said Det. Rickey Green of the LAPD's gang and narcotics division. The investigation into the home on the 13700 block of Polk Street began with a tip received Thursday by narcotics detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill division, Green said.
Los Angeles Times

Suspect in videos of disabled women being sexually abused is arrested in Hollywood, authorities say
Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives said they have arrested one man -- and located a second in state prison -- believed to be part of a group who allegedly filmed and sexually assaulted severely disabled women. Sheriff's officials released still images and composite drawings of at least eight men suspected in attacks on 10 of the disabled women in hopes of identifying those who carried out the assaults. Ernie Lloyd, 27, of Los Angeles was arrested Saturday after he turned himself in to Los Angeles police in Hollywood after telling them he knew he was wanted, said Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker.
Los Angeles Times

After Arizona congresswoman's shooting, local lawmakers think about their own security
The shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords left San Fernando Valley-area lawmakers concerned about security and public access to town hall and informal meetings, but refusing to back down from seeing their constituents. The incident threatens the legislative process at its very core, occurring at a meeting where the public was bringing issues to the attention of their representative, said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks
Los Angeles Daily News

City & State Budget Crisis

City Controller Wendy Greuel says LA's cash flow is $28M under estimates
City Controller Wendy Greuel warned of more bad financial news for Los Angeles, saying that cash flow is falling $28 million under estimates as the city is being hit with unexpected bills. Greuel urged the City Council to immediately cut $68.5 million from its $7.01 billion budget or face the possibility of having to use its emergency reserve fund to pay its bills by the end of the year.
Los Angeles Daily News

Jerry Brown's agenda could get boost from labor
One of California's top union groups spent nearly $10 million last year on a high-tech effort to find nonunion voters who shared the values of organized labor. They may have done their job even better than they imagined, as the fruits of their efforts could help shape efforts to plug the state's $28 billion deficit, beginning with today's unveiling of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal. A majority of voters - even nonunion residents from traditionally more conservative parts of the state - may be willing to support extending state taxes set to expire this year, according to a post-election survey by the 2.1 million-member California Labor Federation.
San Francisco Chronicle