Reformers Want Police To Step Back From Mental Health Calls. The LAPD Says It’s Been Trying

The young woman was walking along the ledge of a parking structure downtown when Los Angeles police officer Stacy Pierce-Rogers arrived. For more than an hour that night, Pierce-Rogers and the woman, who appeared to be in her 20s, talked about Taylor Swift, church, tarot cards and horoscopes. At one point, the woman wanted to pray, so the officer held her hand. “I started praying with her, not really knowing what I was saying but just trying to make her feel better,” said Pierce-Rogers of the 2017 incident. The episode ended with officers pulling the woman to safety. It was among thousands of mental health calls the LAPD responds to annually. Officers in 2018 were dispatched to more than 6,000 calls of actual and possible suicide attempts. That may soon change. Protests over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd have spurred a movement to redirect law enforcement funding to community services and reduce police contact with the public in areas such as mental health calls and involvement with the homeless.

Bill Tops $1 Million To Fix Police Cars Damaged During Civil Unrest

More than 150 patrol cars were damaged during two days of civil unrest in the city of Los Angeles last month and the total cost to taxpayers -- over $1 million. "You can see here the officer's water bottles, the metal water bottles, so they didn't have time to gather any of their belongings," said Mark Wyrick, the LAPD auto body repair supervisor. Wyrick is usually working on patrol cars such as one that got T-boned in a severe crash earlier this month. But it was after two days of not-so-peaceful protests in LA in May that led to patrol car after patrol car, smashed, slashed or scorched. "These are 100% totaled," he said. "We can't salvage anything from these vehicles. I've been in my position about 11 years now. This is the worst I've seen." LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the patrol vehicles are critical to be able to police the 468 square miles of Los Angeles and that proposed budget cuts have forced the department to conduct a top-to-bottom review of every line item, including the money for squad cars. The 'black and white' is literally a police officer's office," he said. "The nearly one-million dollars in damage to our fleet during the recent protests will make it even more difficult to replace our already aging fleet."

Coronavirus Has Infected 220 LA Police Department Staff, 60 Fire Department Employees As Of Wednesday

A total of 220 members of the Los Angeles Police Department and 60 employees with the city’s fire department have contracted coronavirus as of Wednesday, June 24, officials said. As many as 113 police staff and 30 members of the fire department have since recovered and returned to duty, Los Angeles Police Officer Tony Im and officials with the city’s Emergency Operations Center said. Most of the currently infected patients were recovering at home, however several police department employees remained hospitalized as of Wednesday. An additional 153 LAPD staff may have been exposed to the virus, and were awaiting test results while self-isolating at home, Im said.

Homeless Man Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of 32-Year-Old Woman At AM/PM Store In Maywood

A homeless man has been arrested after allegedly stabbing and killing a woman at an AM/PM store in Maywood on Wednesday morning. The incident happened around 5:30 at the Arco gas station on the 4700 block of Slauson Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies responded after receiving calls that customers had detained a man who was fighting with employees in the store, said Lt. Barry Hall. The victim, identified as a 32-year-old employee of the store, was found on the ground behind the counter with multiple stab wounds. She was transported to a local hospital where she later died. Further details about the man's identity and what prompted the stabbing were not immediately available.

Man Stabbed In East L.A. Hospitalized In Critical Condition

A man who was stabbed in East Los Angeles was hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition. Deputies sent to the 3700 block of Medford Street about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday found the man lying on a sidewalk, suffering from “sharp force injuries consistent with stab wounds,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. No description was available of a suspect or suspects, and no weapon was recovered. Anyone with information about the case was urged to call 323-890-5500.

LASD, Relatives Ask For Help Finding 19-Year-Old Woman Who Vanished A Month Ago

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and family members asked for help on Wednesday to track down a 19-year-old woman who has been missing for more than a month. Nayeli Rodriguez, also known as Nayeli Rodriguez-Espain, was last seen the morning of May 21 in the 1100 block of East Florence Avenue, in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles, according to a sheriff’s bulletin. Family members haven’t heard from Rodriguez since noon that day, when she spoke with her mother over the phone. Relatives in Mexico also have been unable to contact her, sheriff’s officials said. There’s been no activity on her cellphone or social media accounts since she vanished, investigators added.

Santa Monica Man Pleads Guilty To Scamming Actress Jenifer Lewis, 3 Other Women From Dating Apps Out Of More Than $380K

A Santa Monica man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal wire fraud in a scam in which he deceived four women, including “Black-ish” actress Jenifer Lewis, into investing in his sham companies. According to court documents, between May 2015 and October 2018, 57-year-old Antonio Mariot Wilson — also known as Dr. Tony Mariot and Brice Carrington — engaged in romantic relationships with the women before conning them into giving him a total of $387,000 for his purported businesses. Wilson met some of the women through Bumble and other dating apps. He met Lewis at a gym, where he was working as a manager.

Man Sentenced In Connection With Crash That Killed Teen

One of two men convicted in connection with a crash that killed a 16-year-old high school baseball player and seriously injured his father was sentenced Wednesday to two years and eight months in state prison. Jurors convicted Tung Ming, 24, and his co-defendant Darryl Leander Hicks Jr., 32, of one felony count each of gross vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving causing injury or death. Hicks was also convicted of one felony count each of hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury to another person and hit-and-run driving resulting in specified injury, along with one misdemeanor count each of hit-and-run driving causing property damage involving an earlier crash into Ming’s vehicle and driving on a suspended license, according to Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould.

Could Racially Motivated 911 Calls Become Hate Crimes?

Barbecuing at Lake Merritt in Oakland. Selling water without a permit. Both instances in which a Black person was doing something deemed criminal by a white person. Both instances in which a white person called the police. Now, as racial tensions continue to flare as the nation protests the death of George Floyd and others, a California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would make discriminatory 911 calls a hate crime, joining a handful of states in pushing to criminalize emergency calls. Three states — New York, Oregon and Washington — have recently enacted new laws. California’s proposal “would provide multiple pathways for justice for victims of racially weaponized 911 calls,” said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, an Alameda Democrat and the bill’s author.

Los Angeles To Increase Coronavirus Testing Capacity As Numbers Continue To Spike

As the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise across Southern California, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the city will be expanding its testing capacity. During a press briefing Wednesday afternoon, Garcetti said the city is increasing daily testing to meet with high demands. The city will go from a testing capacity of 7,700 to 13,700. The mayor says that is a 6,000 increase across several city testing sites.

New Coronavirus Cases In U.S. Jump To Highest Level In 2 Months, Since Peak Of Outbreak

New coronavirus cases in the United States have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak. New cases have been surging for more than a week after trending down for more than six weeks. On Tuesday, the U.S. reported 34,700 new COVID-19 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published on Wednesday. There have only been two previous days that the U.S. has reported more cases: April 9 and April 24, when a record 36,400 cases were logged. While early hot spots like New York and New Jersey have seen cases steadily decline, the virus has been hitting the south and west. Several states on Tuesday set single-day records for new cases, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas.