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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

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

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

May 16, 2017
 

Law Enforcement News

Tattoo-Face Felon Denies Killing Whittier Cop, Cousin
A reputed gang member charged with killing a Whittier police officer and wounding the officer's partner after gunning down his own cousin in February pleaded not guilty Monday during an arraignment hearing in Norwalk. Michael Christopher Mejia, 26, appeared in court in connection with the Feb. 20 killings of Officer Keith Boyer, 53, and his own cousin, 47-year-old Roy Torres, in East Los Angeles earlier the same day. Mejia is charged with two counts of murder, which include the special circumstance allegations of murder of a peace officer in the performance of his duties, murder for the purpose of avoiding arrest and multiple murders. After entering his pleas, Mejia was ordered to return to court May 30 for a preliminary hearing meant to enable a judge to decide whether there's enough evidence to warrant a trial. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty against Mejia, who is also charged with one count each of attempted murder of a peace officer, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon with two prior convictions — second-degree robbery in 2010 and grand theft auto in 2014.
MyNewsLA.com

One Person Shot On Laurel Canyon In North Hollywood
One person was shot and wounded in North Hollywood today. The shooting was reported at 4:03 a.m. in the 6700 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, said Officer Liliana Preciado of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Division. The victim suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital, Preciado said. The victim's age, gender and condition were not immediately reported.
Los Angeles Daily News

Man Stabbed In Fight Across From Hollywood And Highland
A man is in stable condition Monday after being stabbed in the stomach by a man during a fight right across from Hollywood and Highland. The fight was reported at about 2 a.m., when one of the people involved in the fight took out a knife and stabbed the victim in the abdomen. The victim, a man whose name and age were not released, was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. The suspect has not been caught. Intoxicated bystanders who refused to listen to LAPD commands were detained by officers, but all but one has been released.
CBS 2

2 Suspects In Custody After Standoff At Van Nuys Bank
Two women spotted in a reported stolen vehicle Monday were arrested after they went into a bank in Van Nuys and had a standoff with police. The vehicle, which had been reported stolen last week, was equipped with LoJack or similar vehicle theft recovery technology and was spotted by a police air unit about 6 p.m. in the parking lot of a Chase bank branch at the intersection of Sepulveda and Victory boulevards, according to Officer Mike Lopez of the LAPD's Media Relations Section. An air unit officer saw the suspects enter the bank and directed other officers to the location, Lopez said. Because the suspect in the car theft had been armed, police evacuated the bank and went in with guns drawn before arresting the two women, Lopez said. Investigators determined the women were not involved in the actual theft of the vehicle, but they were nonetheless arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle, Lopez said.
FOX 11

Business owners struggle with homeless, crime along Orange Line in Van Nuys
Some business owners along Bessemer Street where the homeless congregate say the situation has improved, but more tents now line the adjacent Orange Line busway bike path, which continues to attract drug dealing, prostitution and defecation in the streets. “It looks really bad, disgusting,” said Artour Teroganesian, who owns an auto repair shop on Bessemer Street, west of Cedros Avenue.
Los Angeles Daily News

Lake Balboa Mail Thieves Strike Nearly 20 Mailboxes In Neighborhood
Police are searching for thieves who struck nearly 20 mailboxes in one night in Lake Balboa. The theft happened Monday in a neighborhood on Amestoy Avenue and Cantley Street. A total of 18 mailboxes were broken into and had items stolen. Police and the U.S. Postal Service were notified about the theft but no arrests have been made.
ABC 7

Supreme Court Declines To Consider Excessive Force Case Involving LAPD Officers
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to weigh in on a civil case in which two Los Angeles police officers were accused of using excessive force against a former Deutsche Bank executive who said he was handcuffed, taken to a hotel and beaten with a baton. The nation's high court let stand a ruling that affirmed dismissals of separate claims brought by plaintiff Brian Mulligan against the L.A. Police Protective League and Eric Rose, who was then a media consultant for the police union. Mulligan sued the LAPD and officers James Nichols and John Miller, alleging they violated his civil rights, used unreasonable force and committed battery during a May 2012 arrest. Attorneys for the officers successfully argued that Mulligan was out of control on “bath salts” and had attacked them. The civil jury found in favor of the defendants after a three-day trial in January 2014. 
MyNewsLA.com

Police Commission Holds Hearing On LAPD-ICE Cooperation
In response to fears among immigrants that the LAPD is helping to deport people under President Trump's new immigration policy, the civilian board that oversees the department is devoting its entire public meeting Tuesday to how the LAPD does – and does not – work with federal authorities. The idea came from one of the five commissioners, Shane Murphy Goldsmith, who said the department and commission need to send a clear message. “The LAPD is not here to enforce immigration law or to deport immigrants,” she told KPCC. “It's here to keep us safe and immigrant communities need to know that.” But immigrants' trust in the LAPD may already be on the decline. Crime reporting from some immigrant heavy neighborhoods has dropped since President Trump was inaugurated, according to Chief Charlie Beck. 
KPCC 

Robber Dubbed ‘Coast To Coast Bandit' Strikes New York City Banks
A man who Monday robbed one bank and attempted to rob another, both in New York City, is believed to be the same suspect in three other bank robberies in New York and one last month in Los Angeles. Dubbed the “Coast to Coast Bandit,” the suspect on April 17 robbed the Chase bank branch at 8150 Sunset Blvd., near Crescent Heights Boulevard, according to the FBI. A teller said the suspect, who was wearing a New York Yankees cap, presented a note saying he had a gun and a knife. He fled out the front door with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to the FBI. The man also wore a Yankees cap during a March 13 robbery of a Chase branch in New York. 
Los Angeles Daily News

ICE Agents Arrest More Than 1300 In Gang Sweep
Federal immigration agents have helped arrest more than 1,300 accused gang members across the United States in the last six weeks, the Homeland Security Department said Thursday. The announcement of the gang sweep, part of an enforcement effort launched in 2005, comes amid a Trump administration effort to crack down on street gangs as part of a broader border security and illegal immigration enforcement effort. Fewer than a third of those arrested in the latest operation were foreign citizens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan said 1,098 suspected gang members were arrested on a variety of federal and state criminal charges, while 280 others face administrative immigration charges. Among them were 384 foreigners who were living in the U.S. illegally and 61 legally in the country. "Gang members are involved in a broad range of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion and other crimes with a nexus to our border," Homan said.
Associated Press

Local Government News

LA Mayor Garcetti's $9.2 Billion Budget: Committee Squabbles Over Fixing City's Most Deadly Streets
The Los Angeles City Council's Budget and Finance Committee finalized its adjustments to Mayor Eric Garcetti's proposed $9.2 billion budget Friday. The committee first convened on April 26 and met daily in what is technically one long meeting to examine the budget, hear testimony from department officials and ask questions. While the committee found itself in agreement on most of the adjustments that were contained in a report from the chief legislative analyst's office, funding for the Vision Zero traffic safety program proved to be a major sticking point. Over the objections of Councilman Mike Bonin and Councilwoman Nury Martinez, the committee moved to put all of the potential money for Vision Zero, which is $23 million, into the unappropriated balance. Bonin said his problem with the plan is that the unappropriated money isn't just for Vision Zero and could also be spent for street paving and other needs, which could end up drastically reducing the amount for the project.
MyNewsLA.com
Meet the City Council aide who's become the 'Superman' of cleaning up illegal dumping
Los Angeles City Council aides usually work behind the scenes, rarely recognized as they field phone calls from unhappy constituents, plan news conferences for their bosses and draft city policies. But Luis Hurtado, 30, an aide to City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, is a familiar presence in the 6th District in the northeast San Fernando Valley. His sole job is to pick up trash in Martinez's district, which takes in the neighborhoods of Arleta, Van Nuys and Sun Valley.
Los Angeles Times

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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


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