LACP.org
..
Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
 

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

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

May 4, 2017
 

Law Enforcement News

Man Convicted In Plot To Murder LAPD Detective Is Granted Parole, Will Be Released In Days
A man convicted in the 1985 plot to kill a Los Angeles police detective will be released on parole within the week, over the objections of Gov. Jerry Brown and city police leaders, according to state corrections officials. Voltaire Williams, 54, has spent 27 years in state prison after being convicted of joining the scheme to kill LAPD Det. Thomas C. Williams. A jury convicted Williams of conspiracy to commit murder, and in 1989, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In October, a two-person panel of parole commissioners found Williams suitable for parole. The union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers said Wednesday that it was appalled by the decision, saying that Williams should remain behind bars for life. “Detective Williams was assassinated because he did his job. The Parole Board's decision is an affront to every peace officer who risks their lives to protect others on a daily basis,” the Los Angeles Police Protective League said in a statement. “He does not deserve freedom.”
Los Angeles Times
Woman Suffers Critical Head Injury In South L.A. Hit-And-Run; Search For Driver Underway
Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver Wednesday who struck and critically injured a woman who was crossing a street in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles Tuesday evening. The crash occurred about 8 p.m. as the woman was crossing near the intersection of West 70th Street and South Broadway when she was hit by a vehicle traveling southbound on Broadway, the Los Angeles Police Department stated in a news release. The driver of the vehicle stopped briefly before fleeing the scene southbound on Broadway. The victim, described only as a woman in her 30s, suffered severe head trauma and was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, according to the Police Department. A witness described the hit-and-run vehicle as a white Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell. The truck has front end damage as a result of the collision, according to the Police Department.
KTLA 5
Police: Former Teacher Preyed On Catholic School Students For Sex
Detectives say a former San Fernando Valley teacher was arrested on suspicion of having sex with his students. William Maclyn Murphy Eick taught at Bishop Alemany High School from 2009 to 2016. The investigation began last November when two victims came forward, according to an LAPD spokesman. He turned himself in Tuesday and was booked and released on $70,000 bail. Los Angeles police detectives say he met his victims in his capacity as a teacher at the private Catholic high school and took advantage of his position to gain their trust to have sex with students. The warrant for Eick's arrest says he is wanted for unlawful sex with a minor and oral copulation. Investigators say they believe there be more victims or other unreported incidents involving Eick.
CBS 2
Police Hunt For Shooter Who Nearly Killed Woman
More than five months since a gunman open fire on a crowded house party, injuring four party-goers and almost killing one, detectives released new video of the getaway car, captured on security cameras, moments before the shooting. The shooting happened Nov. 28, 2016, on the 1000 block of McDonald Avenue in Wilmington. Detectives told NBC4 they hope someone comes forward to offer new leads. It was a chaotic scene. People had scattered everywhere. There were 16 rounds fired. One of the victims, Reianna Valenzuela, 25, laid on the ground in a pool of blood, with a gunshot wound through her head. "I've never seen anyone survive that type of injury," said homicide detective David Cortez with LAPD Harbor Division. Against all odds, Valenzuela survived. Speaking out for the first time since the shooting, she remembers being shot. Each day, the woman who had hopes of opening her own daycare center, is making big strides.
NBC 4
He Murdered Mom To Avoid Child Support Payments? No Answer, But Killer Gets Life Without Parole
A man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend four days after he was ordered to pay child support for their two young children was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Oscar Cedano, 35, was found guilty last Nov. 9 of first-degree murder for the Jan. 17, 2014, shooting death of Sonia Soto, 27. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder while lying in wait. Shortly before Cedano was sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta, the victim's mother, Torribia, said she wanted Cedano to answer why he killed her daughter and “hurt us so badly.” Soto was found slumped over the driver's steering wheel of her car in the 600 block of Santa Fe Avenue under the Sixth Street bridge in downtown Los Angeles. She had been shot once “execution-style” behind the right ear, according to Deputy District Attorney John McKinney.
MyNewsLA.com
Sheriff Whistleblower Who Testified In Federal Obstruction Case Gets $1.275-Million Settlement
A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy whose testimony helped send colleagues to prison for obstructing an FBI investigation into abuses inside the county jails will receive $1.275 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the department of retaliating against her. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the settlement of Tara Jan Adams' federal civil rights lawsuit without comment.  Adams was a vital witness in the federal prosecution of Sheriff's Department officials in a jail abuse scandal that saw the conviction of former Sheriff Lee Baca. The onetime deputy in the records bureau at the Inmate Reception Center testified that a lieutenant and three deputies asked in August 2011 to remove inmate Anthony Brown from the jail booking system. The officials were seeking to conceal Brown, a federal informant, from his FBI agent handlers after learning he was helping the agency probe jailhouse abuses.
Los Angeles Times
Prosecutors To Face Punishment For Withholding Evidence
Prosecutors who withhold evidence that might have helped a criminal defendant will soon face the prospect of punishment by the State Bar of California, under rules already in place in every other state. The state Supreme Court voted unanimously Monday to approve most of the disciplinary standards that the bar had proposed for prosecutors, who are rarely punished for breaking the rules in California. According to the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara Law School, courts found prosecutorial misconduct in 707 cases in California between 1997 and 2009, but only seven prosecutors in those cases were disciplined by the bar. A new state law, effective this year, makes it a felony, punishable by up to three years in prison, for a prosecutor to intentionally withhold evidence that would have made a difference in a case. The bar's new ethics rules are broader, requiring disclosure of evidence that a prosecutor knew, or should have known, might help the defense.
San Francisco Chronicle
Families of San Bernardino attack victims accuse Facebook, Google and Twitter of aiding terrorism in lawsuit
Relatives of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Twitter, Google and Facebook, accusing the tech giants of knowingly supporting Islamic State and its extremist agenda. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California contends the three companies have allowed Islamic State to build an outsize online presence and propagate its extremist beliefs, drawing recruits and promoting attacks such as the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting at the Inland Regional Center.
Los Angeles Times

Video: Detroit Police Unveil Fallen Officer Memorial Car
The Detroit Police Department joined interfaith leaders Wednesday for a march in memory of fallen law enforcement across the United States. During the 44th annual Detroit Police Interfaith Memorial march, the department revealed a special patrol car with decals of the names of fallen officers on the hood. According to WJBK, the 232 decals are the officers who have been killed in the line of duty since the beginning of the department. Police Chief James Craig said they were thinking of Officer Johnson, who is currently in critical condition after he was shot in the head while responding to a domestic dispute Sunday, the Associated Press reported. "Our officers have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Police Chief James Craig said. “We think about Officer Johnson and a speedy recovery. We remember all of the officers across the country that have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
PoliceOne
Baltimore homicide detectives to begin investigating drug overdoses
For the first time, Baltimore police have begun investigating overdoses in an effort to trace drugs back to dealers, joining a wave of Maryland law enforcement agencies showing up at 911 calls previously left to medics. A task force of five detectives will operate out of the homicide unit, responding when possible to fatal and nonfatal overdoses. More than 1,000 patrol officers also are being trained to respond to overdose scenes by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Baltimore Sun

Local Government News

With Garcetti's Budget Relying On Millions From Airbnb, Will L.A. Still Clamp Down On Short-Term Rentals?
Worried about homes being operated like hotels, Los Angeles lawmakers have been weighing new regulations that would cap the number of nights Angelenos can rent out their homes for short stays. But when Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed his budget, he banked on allowing Airbnb rentals to continue without those kind of restrictions. City officials say the plan assumes the “status quo” on such rentals, which are already sending tens of millions in tax revenue to the city, because new rules have yet to be approved. Relying on that money has nonetheless troubled some city lawmakers, neighborhood activists and representatives of the hotel industry, who fear that Los Angeles could face pressure to adopt looser regulations to avoid hurting its bottom line. Airbnb, for instance, has asserted that current proposals to restrict its rentals could cost the city some $15 million in tax revenue.
Los Angeles Times
LA Council Candidate Bray-Ali Taking Fire Over Flag-Burning Comments
A City Council candidate who is already facing criticism for racist online comments is facing a new round of fire over remarks supporting the burning and desecrating of the American flag. Veterans groups are calling for Joe Bray-Ali to drop out of the race based on a blog post he made on the topic of flag-burning. Bray-Ali recently posted on Facebook in writing and in a video his own comments from a 2006 blog post saying in part: "Let people burn the flag all they want, let them put it in their avant-garde art videos smeared in poo. Let them destroy it. In the U.S. the flag is not the state. The people are the state." The remarks drew anger from veterans. "Don't tell me Mr. Ali that you care about us and that you're for homeless veterans," said Don Garza, one of several veterans who denounced Bray-Ali at a press conference. "Because what you just said makes it easy for you to deny veterans and fight against veterans when you disrespect that flag."
ABC 7
Panel Recommends Separate Neighborhood Council Or New Election For Skid Row
A Los Angeles panel late Wednesday recommended that the city award skid row a separate neighborhood council or order a new election in the epicenter of Los Angeles homelessness. During five hours of discussion and comments that referenced both Martin Luther King Jr. and attorney Johnny Cochrane Jr., homeless and other skid row residents accused the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council of using a “front group” called Unite DTLA to illegally campaign against their bid to break away from the rest of the central city and form their own board. Advocates contended that Unite used the downtown council's logo, database and server to send out emails urging a no vote on their proposal, which was narrowly defeated last month. At the hearing, downtown council President Patti Berman protested that her group had nothing to do with the email campaign, and said she and other downtown residents were as much dupes of Unite DTLA as the people of skid row.
Los Angeles Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~