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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

September 2, 2020
Law Enforcement News

Glass Jar Candle Thrown At LAPD Sergeant’s Windshield; Suspect Previously Threw Metal Candlestick At SWAT Car
A Los Angeles police sergeant was uninjured after a man allegedly hurled a glass object at a marked LAPD vehicle, police said Tuesday. The incident was reported around 6:50 p.m. on Monday when the sergeant was exiting a parking lot at the LAPD Metropolitan Station in the 2700 block of Temple Street, according to police. A male suspect – later identified as 38-year-old Elvis Ayala – threw a glass jar candle at the vehicle, police said. After the jar hit the windshield, the sergeant stopped and saw the suspect standing in front of a residence, where the suspect fled and barricaded himself. Police later took Ayala into custody and booked him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Police Help Defeat California Bill On Removing Problem Cops
Police unions and other law enforcement organizations went into overdrive to thwart a measure that would have added California to the majority of states that can end the careers of officers with troubled histories. It failed as lawmakers scrambled to wrap up their work, and while the nation’s most populous state still has no way to permanently remove problematic officers, a number of other police reforms passed. With lobbyists and lawmakers mostly isolated by the coronavirus pandemic, it became a battle of phone calls, colorful graphics and Instagram posts from law enforcement organizations to counter celebrity tweets pushing lawmakers to rein in police brutality after the death of George Floyd last May in Minneapolis and the shooting of Jacob Blake last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Los Angeles Police Protective League and San Francisco Police Officers Association, which together represent 12,000 officers, on Tuesday reiterated their willingness to negotiate “a fair, reasonable and workable decertification process.” Their main complaint with Bradford’s bill was the makeup of a proposed nine-member disciplinary panel to consider if officers’ conduct is enough to end their careers. Six of the nine members would be required to have backgrounds opposing police misconduct, while the remaining three would represent law enforcement.

2 Charged With Robbery, Hate Crime Against 3 Transgender Women In Hollywood
Two Compton men have been charged with an attack last month on YouTube performer Eden the Doll and two other transgender women in Hollywood. Carlton Alexander Callaway, 29, is charged with one felony count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury, second-degree robbery, attempted second-degree robbery, criminal threats and grand theft from the person of another, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Davion Anthony Williams, 22, is charged with one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon -- a rideshare scooter -- and grand theft. The criminal complaint includes allegations that the crimes committed were hate crimes and that Callaway used a steel rod as a deadly and dangerous weapon. Callaway could face up to 13 years and four months in state prison if convicted as charged in the Aug. 17 attack, while Williams could face a maximum of eight years and four months in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Police Shut Down House Party In Fairfax Area
A warning notice was left at a Fairfax area home after police were sent to shut down a house party Tuesday night. The home is located in the 700 block of North Gardner Street. Video from the scene showed several people attending the party, which is in violation of health order aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has authorized the city to shut off water and power at homes where repeatedly large parties are held.

Hawthorne Man Sentenced To 6 Years For Road-Rage Crash That Killed L.A. Motorcyclist In Gardena
A man who pleaded no contest to running a 21-year-old motorcyclist off of the road in Gardena in 2017 was sentenced in Torrance Superior Court to six years in state prison on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with the victim’s family saying that was not enough. Oscar Villa, 27, of Hawthorne was originally charged with murder in the road-rage incident that killed 21-year-old Jaylen Ramone Bell-Maxwell of Los Angeles. However, in March, he took a plea deal to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon. Relatives of Bell-Maxwell said the six-year sentence was too light. “It’s not just an accident – I can’t have my kid here anymore,” Bell-Maxwell’s mother, Sherie Bell, said in court. “I feel like I’m being punished, because I’m not friends with certain people in politics.” Family members said they felt disrespected by the court and said the plea deal was the result of underhanded deals between prosecutors and the defense.

Garcetti Has Utilities Cut To Cahuenga Pass Party House After Several Warnings
Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday that he authorized the Department of Water and Power to cut utilities to a house in Cahuenga Pass that hosted large gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the owners receiving warnings from the city of Los Angeles. “COVID-19 has taken a devastating toll on our city and country, yet the power to stop the spread of this virus and save lives rests in our hands by wearing masks, washing our hands, keeping our distance and avoiding large gatherings,” Garcetti said. “The owner and residents of this home have failed to follow our public health orders and ignored multiple warnings to stop hosting large parties. So today, the city disconnected utilities to this house.” On Aug. 4, the county Department of Public Health issued a statement in regard to large house parties, which said, “The highest-risk settings are large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least six feet apart and where face coverings are not worn. The consequences of these large parties ripple throughout our entire community because the virus can quickly and easily spread.”

Decomposing Body Found In Storage Container In LA River In Long Beach
A decomposing body was found in a storage container in the Los Angeles River in Long Beach, authorities said Tuesday. The body was found about 7 p.m. Monday near the 3700 block of East 208th Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department. “The preliminary investigation revealed the decomposing body was partially enclosed within a storage container and was found resting in a shallow portion of the Los Angeles River,” according to a police statement. The coroner’s office is working to determine the person’s identity and cause of death, according to police.

Two Plead Guilty In Voter Fraud Case
Two people indicted last year in connection with a scheme in which homeless people on Skid Row were offered money and cigarettes in exchange for false and forged signatures on ballot petitions and voter registration forms pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges. Harold Bennett, 55, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of circulating an initiative or petition containing false, forged or fictitious names and registering a fictitious person, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Co-defendant Rose Sweeney, 44, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of circulating an initiative or petition containing false, forged or fictitious names. Both were sentenced to three years of formal probation, and a 16-month state prison sentence was suspended for Bennett, who could end up behind bars if he violates the terms of his probation.

L.A. County Supervisors Approve $25.5 Million To Get Sheriff’s Body Cameras
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 1, to transfer $25.5 million to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to get deputies body-worn cameras. Supervisor Janice Hahn, who introduced the legislation with Supervisor Kathryn Barger, talked about the new cameras with the backdrop recent events, including the fatal deputy shooting of Dijon Kizzee in South Los Angeles on Monday. Tuesday’s vote approved $12.3 million for the department’s first year of operating the cameras, which initially will go to five sheriff stations – Industry, Century, Lakewood, West Hollywood and Lancaster. Supervisors said the cameras are long overdue in L.A. County, but they stressed that it’s only one tool in government accountability, particularly at a time of social unrest. The Sheriff Department’s goal is to make them operational by October.

SoCal Driver Receives Three Speeding Tickets In One Day, CHP Says
A driver was ticketed three separate times for speeding in Southern California on Sunday, including once where his car was traveling at almost 120 mph, CHP officials said. The unidentified driver, who was behind the wheel of a white Volkswagen Passat, received the first ticket shortly after 9 a.m. He was pulled over by an officer with CHP’s Barstow office for doing 90 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to a California Highway Patrol Instagram post. At 10:45, the same driver received another ticket — this time for going in excess of 100 mph in an area where the posted speed limit was 70 mph, authorities said. An officer measured his speed at 119 mph. Hours later, the Volkswagen driver was pulled over by CHP for speeding in an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County, marking his third ticket of the day, the post stated. He was cited for unsafe speed after allegedly driving 62 mph in a 40 mph zone.

California Lawmakers Approve Bills To Address Racism In Criminal Charges And Jury Selection
The California Legislature this week approved two bills aimed at reducing discrimination in jury selection and criminal cases. In a year marked by protests across the nation against police killings of Black men and women, the legislation was among only a handful of bills addressing racial discrimination in the criminal justice system that progressed to the governor’s desk. Assembly Bill 3070, sponsored by California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and introduced by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), would limit the removal of prospective jurors without cause, a change intended to prevent discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin or religious affiliation. “It represents a much needed and timely change to fix our criminal justice system,” Weber said.

Judge Upholds California Ban On Carrying Guns In Public
A U.S. judge on Monday upheld California’s near-total ban on carrying guns in public even as protests in other states have seen counter-demonstrators armed with weapons. U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller denied a review of a 2017 federal appeals court decision that upheld the law, which bans carrying concealed weapons in most urban areas and permits open-carry of weapons only if someone believes that a person is in immediate danger and law enforcement has failed to respond, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. However, Mueller also said gun owners can proceed with a lawsuit against California over the ban while awaiting a court hearing next month involving another open-carry ban in Hawaii. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled on Sept. 24 to consider a challenge to the law, which effectively only permits police and security guards to openly carry firearms.

Chicago Cops Warned About Possible Gang Pact Targeting LEOs
An alert from FBI officials is warning Chicago-area law enforcement of a “pact” made by local gangs to “shoot on-sight any cop that has a weapon drawn on any subject in public." The “situational information report” dated August 26, obtained by ABC 7, said the pact was formed by three dozen street gangs. According to ABC 7’s investigative team, the report from FBI officials in Chicago states "members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in performance of their official duties. The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent 'shoot on-sight' of said officer, in order to garner national media attention." The alert is from “a contact whose reporting is limited and whose reliability cannot be determined,” FBI officials wrote in the report. According to ABC 7, this means the information came from a police street source, a cooperating witness in an ongoing case, or from discussions overheard through surveillance.

Public Safety News

LA County Gears Up For Flu Season; Health Official Warns Of ‘Twindemic'
Los Angeles County is gearing up for the coming flu season, with the county's top public health official saying that residents should get vaccinated, even given the continuing threat of COVID-19. "We are positive that we will have both influenza and COVID-19 circulating at the same time," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told the Board of Supervisors. "While we don't have a vaccination for COVID-19 at this time, we do have a vaccination for influenza." Immunization is recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months. Vaccines are already available at some doctors' offices, clinics and pharmacies, and Ferrer said the county should have its own stocks available next week. If enough residents get vaccinated, it will help decrease the stress on the county's health care system as it works to support patients fighting either COVID-19 or influenza, which have similar symptoms, Ferrer told the board. Supervisor Janice Hahn said she was starting to hear the term "twindemic" to describe the possibility of a dual health crisis this fall.

Following Test Results Dust-Up, California To Unveil A New COVID-19 Reporting System In October
A month after a state public health computer database failure caused the distortion of COVID-19 test results across California and disrupted the state’s response to the pandemic, the Newsom administration on Tuesday announced that a new reporting system will be online in October. The state signed a contract with software company OptumInsight Inc. for a database that will handle all COVID-19 testing results, replacing the troubled California Reportable Disease Information Exchange, or CalREDIE. Because of a glitch in that system in late July, up to 300,000 test results had not been uploaded to the database, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the state‘s actions taken to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services director, said the new data repository will be “robust” enough to ensure that the state has the testing information necessary to adequately respond to the pandemic.

Local Government News

LA City Council Commits $50 Million To Aid Workers Afflicted By COVID-19
Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to use $50 million of L.A.’s federal CARES Act funding to provide people with two weeks of pay if they are infected with COVID-19 and cannot work. “Beating the COVID-19 pandemic means keeping folks at home when they’re sick,” Councilman David Ryu said. “But too many Los Angeles workers are being forced to decide between their paycheck and public health. We need a program that ensures all workers are able to stay home, no matter what work they do, their immigration status or their criminal record.” The proposed program would ensure that all workers, regardless of their employment or immigration status, are able to self-quarantine if they get sick. Ryu and Council President Nury Martinez introduced the proposal in late July to assist low-income people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and cannot work. Martinez said she wants to focus particularly on getting assistance to low-income people infected by the virus who were left out of the first round of the CARES Act.
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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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