Law Enforcement

Wounded man dies after Boyle Heights shooting
A young man was shot and killed Monday in a possible gang-related attack in the Boyle Heights area. Officers were sent to the area of Lanfranco and Indiana streets on a shots-fired call shortly after 10 a.m., police said. The wounded man, about 20 years of age, was taken to a hospital where he later died, LAPD Officer Gregory Baek said. Authorities withheld his name, pending notification of relatives. The suspect was described only as a young man in his late teens or early 20s, Baek said.
City News Service

LAPD North Hollywood Division cracking down on thefts from cars
The LAPD's North Hollywood Division is making progress in its effort to quash a recent spike in thefts from vehicles in the southeast area of the Valley, officials said Monday. The division poured resources into the effort about two weeks ago, after these kinds of thefts had jumped 12.8 percent in 2013 from the comparable period in 2012. And last week, while thefts rose to 1,229 from 1,096 a year ago, the overall increase was moderated to 12.1 percent from the year-to-date reported.
Los Angeles Daily News

Police hunting for suspect who fatally stabbed partygoer, 20
Detectives with the LAPD's Harbor Area are asking for the public to help them find a suspect who fatally stabbed a 20-year-old partygoer. Brian Barajas and some friends were at a party in Wilmington Saturday night when a fight broke out in the backyard of the location - the 300 block of E. Q Street - around 11:25 p.m. Officials said Barajas was not involved in the fight and he and his friends were leaving when the suspect walked up to him and stabbed him in the torso.
CBS LA

4-year-old boy found wandering in Woodland Hills in the middle of the night
A 4-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was found bawling outside a neighbor's house in the wee hours Monday after he managed to slip out of his Woodland Hills home undetected was returned to his mother, police said. A neighbor who lives seven doors down from the mother in the 23000 block of Friar Street heard the little boy crying on his doorstep and called police, said LAPD Sgt. Cathy Riggs of the Topanga Division.
Los Angeles Daily News

Identifying counterfeit products
The global business of counterfeit goods has reached more than $700 billion a year. Fake products, mostly sold online, not only take business away from legitimate manufacturers but often pose safety threats to unsuspecting consumers who buy them. Police agencies investigating these crimes come into contact with such impressive counterfeit products that often go unnoticed to an untrained eye.
Police Magazine

Havis announces the Los Angeles Police Department's future Ford Police Interceptors
The LAPD is bringing their vision of the future police vehicle to Charlotte, N.C. for Hendon Publishing's Police Fleet Expo. From Aug. 19-22, show attendees will get to see an all new, in-dash mounted screen in Ford's Police Interceptor Sedan and Police Interceptor Utility. The LAPD has envisioned the system as the next step forward in police vehicle interiors. The modern police vehicle is becoming loaded with technology and equipment that, in turn, puts a premium on in-vehicle space.
News Release

105 kids rescued from prostitution rings; 159 arrested
The FBI announced Monday the arrests of 159 people and recovery of 105 children involved in child prostitution rings across the country. The 76-city sweep, conducted in the past three days, represents the largest such law enforcement action focused on children forced into sexual slavery, federal authorities said. Assistant FBI Director Ron Hosko, head of the bureau's criminal division, said the children ranged from 13 to 17 years old.
USA Today

Senate approves James Comey for FBI Director
The U.S. Senate approved President Obama's nomination of James Comey to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Senate voted 93-1 Monday to confirm Comey, who will succeed Robert Mueller in the post. Two senators voted present. His nomination received bipartisan support after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., withdrew his hold on the nomination after the FBI responded Monday to Paul's questions on domestic use of surveillance drones.
USA Today

Prisons

Hollywood stars, civil rights icons protest solitary confinement
Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno have all joined prison hunger strikers in calling for an end to California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence. The civil rights crusaders, rock singer and late-night comedian are among those signing a letter sent Monday to Gov. Jerry Brown. The letter calls Security Housing Units "extensions of the same inhumanity practiced at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay."
Los Angeles Times

Corrections Dept. gets bad report about health care at Corcoran Prison
As California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation deals with an ongoing hunger strike and having to move more than 2,500 inmates this week from two prisons plagued by Valley Fever, the department received another bit of bad news Monday: Independent court investigators have found medical care at Corcoran State Prison to be sorely lacking. In a report filed in Federal Court, three independent investigators found an array of problems that they say threaten the health and safety of inmates at the Central Valley prison.
KPCC

City Government

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti launches new street repair program
Mayor Eric Garcetti highlighted Los Angeles' crumbling roadways Monday by launching a new program to patch the city's countless potholes and cracked streets. Standing near yellow-vested workers on a busy Sherman Oaks roadway, Garcetti unveiled L.A. Neighborhood Blitz, a program that relies on neighborhood council leaders to help prioritize street repairs.
Los Angeles Daily News