Law Enforcement

LAPD detective killed in crash was 27-year veteran
The Los Angeles Police Department identified Saturday an off-duty police detective who was killed when a cement mixer struck his pickup truck along a winding, hilly stretch of road in Beverly Hills. Ernest L. Allen Sr., 52, was a 27-year veteran of the department, where his assignments included stints at the 77th Street, Wilshire, Rampart and Southwest stations, according to a department statement.
Los Angeles Times

Grief hangs over department as LAPD mourns fallen officers
The crash that killed Det. Ernest Allen on Friday sent a fresh wave of grief across the LAPD, where four officers have died in traffic-related incidents in the last two months. Each of the officers who died worked in different divisions, but the cumulative effect has weighed heavily on the department. Officers have gathered after hours to talk about their fallen friends. They text their colleagues reminders: Stay safe. Come home to your family.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD chief in 'disbelief' after another officer is killed on Beverly Hills road
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said he was in "disbelief" when he learned Friday that another of his officers was killed in a crash on the same winding Beverly Hills road where an officer died on duty two months ago. The crashes occurred just 25 yards apart on Loma Vista Drive, the chief said. "I drove out here myself and I still didn't believe it," Beck told reporters Friday. "It is just too horrific for words."
Los Angeles Times

LA Police Emerald Society Pipes And Drums prepares for officers' funerals
The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, made up of active and retired Southland law enforcement officers, practiced Friday for the upcoming funerals of two fallen officers. CBS2's Stacey Butler said the group might soon be asked to play at the funeral of the off-duty detective who was killed Friday when a cement truck crashed into his pickup truck in Beverly Hills.
CBS LA

Thank you for helping us grieve
The Los Angeles Police Protective League would like to thank the community for their outpouring of support as the LAPD mourns the loss of three police officers in the line of duty this year. Last week, Officer Roberto Sanchez was killed by a hit-and-run driver. In March, Officer Nick Lee was killed when his patrol car was hit by a garbage truck and in April, LAPD Motorcycle Officer Chris Cortijo died after he was struck by an alleged DUI driver.
LAPPL Blog

Two LAPD officers hurt in three-car accident in Westwood
Two Los Angeles police officers were injured Friday evening in a three-car accident at Selby Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, authorities said. The crash occurred about 6:45 p.m. One officer was taken to the hospital in serious condition. His partner was treated and released at the scene by paramedics. Police said the cause of the accident is under investigation. No other details were immediately available Friday night.
Los Angeles Times

2 killed in separate South L.A. shootings just minutes apart
Two men were killed in separate shootings that occurred in the same vicinity and about 10 minutes apart in South L.A. early Saturday, police said. The first victim, Jacoby Plummer, 26, was shot in a drive-by shooting about 12:15 a.m. in the 300 block of East 116th Street, according to the police and the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Several shots were fired and the gunman remains at large.
Los Angeles Times

Suspects flee after assaulting food truck driver in Koreatown
A man is in custody and another is being sought after an assault on a food truck driver led to a police pursuit on Western Avenue early Saturday. The driver of the food truck was assaulted with a hammer and then kicked by the suspects on the 3100 block of Olympic Boulevard in Koreatown, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dominic Counts said. Counts said the suspects' departure from the scene at 2:40 a.m., was witnessed by a police helicopter, which called in a description of the getaway vehicle, a white pickup truck.
City News Service

Jackie Lacey says L.A. County should stop locking up so many people
You wouldn't expect the county's top prosecutor to step up to a microphone and say it's time to stop locking up so many people. But that's exactly what L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey did last week. She told the county Board of Supervisors that, in her opinion, 1,000 or more people with mental illness who are currently incarcerated should probably be somewhere other than in jail. "It is clear, even to those of us in law enforcement, that we can do better in Los Angeles County," she said, which is why she's leading a task force that is studying less expensive and more effective alternatives than incarceration. "The current system is, simply put, unjust."
Los Angeles Times

Woman arrested in alleged hit-and-run that left a pedestrian dead
A Los Angeles woman was apprehended Sunday in connection with an alleged hit-and-run hours earlier that left a pedestrian dead in South Los Angeles, police said. Vernice Taylor, 56, was arrested about 5 a.m. on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, said Sgt. Gregory Hoyte of the LAPD's Central Traffic Bureau. The incident occurred about 12:30 a.m. on Gage Avenue at or near Broadway, Hoyte said.
Los Angeles Times

Officer accused of racial slur deserved more punishment, Garcetti says
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday that a police officer who received a 65-day suspension after using a racial slur should have received a stiffer punishment. Garcetti made his remarks one day after CBS Channel 2 aired a recording that was said to have captured Officer Shaun Hillmann describing an African American man as a "monkey." Asked about the audio, Garcetti said the statements were "reprehensible."
Los Angeles Times

Prisons

Assembly committee seeks boost to post-prison services
A special legislative committee created last fall in the wake of federal court orders to improve state prison conditions and reduce crowding is calling for increases in the services and spending the state devotes to rehabilitation efforts and post-prison work programs. In a letter sent this week to Assembly Speaker John Perez, whose term ended Friday, committee co-chairs Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles) recommended increased attention and resources to those leaving prison, especially the mentally ill.
Los Angeles Times

Driver's Licenses

California immigrants can get licenses with foreign ID, in-person interview
Foreign government-issued cards, utility bills and marriage licenses could be among the documents immigrants living illegally in California can use to get driver's licenses, Department of Motor Vehicles officials said on Friday. Immigrant advocates in the Legislature had tried fruitlessly for years to pass a law offering licenses to immigrants in the country illegally, finally succeeding with last year's Assembly Bill 60.
Sacramento Bee

Courts

Cutbacks in California court system produce long lines, short tempers
California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye remembers the moment she learned that the Kings County Superior Court had resorted to holding a garage sale to raise money. "That was a day of extreme humiliation and embarrassment to me," Cantil-Sakauye said. During her three years as chief justice, recession-driven cutbacks in California's huge court system have produced long lines and short tempers at courthouses throughout the state.
Los Angeles Times