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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 15, 2020
Law Enforcement News

LA Deputy Sheriffs President: 'We’re Going To Keep Looking Until We Find You'
The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff's President Ronald Hernandez was at Saint Francis Medical Center in Lynwood Monday to show his support for the two new deputies recovering after Saturday’s ambush in their patrol vehicle. He says he hopes this unprovoked attack on “two protectors of the community” is a wake-up call and has a message to the shooter. “I have to believe that even you right now are thinking that maybe you crossed that line,” says President Hernandez. “My best advice to you would be to turn yourself in because the bottom line is not only are we worried about you, but society in general is worried about you. I hate to say it but we’re going to keep looking until we find you.”

Reward For Info In Shooting Of 2 L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies Upped To $200K After Metro And Anonymous Contributions
Anonymous donors and the region’s top transportation authority on Monday upped a reward to $200,000 for information leading to the arrest of the gunman who shot and injured two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies over the weekend. Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed in an interview with KABC 790 that two donors stepped forward with $25,000 and $50,000 to increase the $100,000 reward approved by the Board of Supervisors on Sunday. Phillip A. Washington, the CEO of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Authority, also said Monday the agency would contribute another $25,000 to the reward. “We hope this small contribution will help to bring the perpetrator to justice,” Washington said in a statement. Villanueva said law enforcement will need help identifying the suspect who fired multiple times at the two deputies, who were seated in a parked Sheriff’s SUV near the Compton Metro station at around 7 p.m .on Saturday. The sheriff also indicated investigators believe the shooter may have run to a getaway vehicle waiting for him; and indicated detectives may be looking for a getaway driver.

Girl Suffers Minor Wound In South Los Angeles Shooting
A 13-year-old girl suffered a minor wound when shots were fired at the family car in the Broadway-Manchester area of Los Angeles, authorities said Monday. It was reported at 4:20 p.m. at Main Street and Century Boulevard, according to Officer D. Orris of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center. The family heard gunshots and then the girl realized she was wounded, Orris said. She was treated for her wound at a hospital.

LAPD Seeking Victims Of Man Arrested In Sexual Assault At Studio City Metro Station
Police are searching for any additional victims of a man arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman at a Studio City metro station back in July, officials said. The suspect, Cory Franklin, was at the Metro Red Line Subway Station at Lankershim Boulevard and Campo De Cahuenga on July 17 when a 57-year-old woman walked in around 6:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department said in a Sunday news release. She had just stepped off the escalator when Franklin “immediately approached and sexually battered her” and held her against her will, the department said. “The victim was able to escape, however, Franklin followed her, blocked her path and sexually battered her a second time,” LAPD said. A person who witnessed the assault yelled at Franklin and he stopped. He was taken into custody by responding North Hollywood-area officers that same day.

Pursuit Travels From OC To LA, As Driver Hangs Out Of Van Window And Blows Kisses
A police pursuit of a van on Orange County freeways Sunday night, where the driver occasionally hung out of the driver's side window, ended in the Los Angeles area. Newschopper4 Bravo was over the chase around 7:10 p.m. as the dark van took the 91 Freeway westbound and eventually made his way to the 105 Freeway, before exiting in the Wilmington area. The driver continued to hang out of the window of the van, pointing at airships above, clapping at news helicopters and even blowing kisses. While performing the dangerous maneuvers, the van would continually swerve on freeways and on surface streets. The California Highway Patrol said the Honda Odyssey was wanted for failure to yield but did not immediately have information on why the driver was asked to yield. Eventually, the erratic driver turned into dead-end and pulled into a drive way. At that point, the driver's side door swung open, and the man immediately surrendered to officers.

Woman Shot To Death In Unincorporated Westmont Area
A woman was shot to death in unincorporated Westmont, authorities said Monday. It was reported at 10:44 p.m. Sunday in the 2100 block of West Century Boulevard, according to Deputy Morgan Arteaga of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. Arriving deputies found the woman had been shot at least once, Arteaga said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. No suspect information was available but an investigation was underway, Arteaga said. Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

La Crescenta Man Sentenced To 3 1/2 Years In Prison For Trying To Obtain Deadly Biological Toxins
A La Crescenta man was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years behind bars for attempting to obtain deadly biological toxins via the dark web and ship the poisons through the mail to a commercial building in downtown Los Angeles. Steve S. Kim, 42, now claims he intended to use ricin to commit suicide, but there are indications he may have planned to murder his wife or another person with the undetectable toxin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Before Kim was aware of the FBI’s investigation, “he told an online associate that he intended to use the ricin to kill another person, whom he described as a 110-pound person,” prosecutors wrote in a memorandum filed with the court. “The evidence uncovered showed that defendant’s wife weighed approximately 110 pounds and had severe underlying health issues and that defendant and his wife were going through a difficult period in their relationship,” according to the document.

7 Opiate Overdoses In Pasadena Have Police Scrambling To See If They’re Linked
Police are investigating after seven men suffered from opiate overdoses in less than 24 hours in Pasadena, including three who died, authorities said. “This is kind of a big blip on our radar all of a sudden,” Pasadena Police Lt. Pete Hettema said Monday of the overdoses, which occurred Friday and Saturday. “It appeared a bad batch got into the area somehow.” Authorities are investigating whether the incidents are potentially connected to the same drug. The men who OD’d ranged in age from 30s to 60s. One is listed in grave condition, officials said, while three others are recovering at a local hospital. Naloxone — a nasal spray that can counteract the effects of an opium overdose — was administered to two of the survivors. Police are awaiting the toxicology reports from the autopsies of the men who died to confirm whether their deaths are linked to the same set of drugs, Hettema said. One additional drug incident was initially thought believed to be related to an opiate overdose but was not, authorities said.

NYPD Cop Survives COVID-19 After 136-Day Hospital Stay
It was a struggle Saturday afternoon for Yvan Pierrelouis just to shift from his wheelchair to a stretcher outside a rehab center at 18th and Lombard streets. Two medical technicians from the NYPD, sent to Philadelphia to bring home a fellow officer, supported his weight. “I’m, like, holding back my tears,” said Diane Latham, Pierrelouis’ daughter. One hundred and thirty-six days earlier, Latham had rushed from work to drive from Philadelphia to North Shore University Hospital on Long Island to see her father on what doctors said would be his deathbed. Even then, she refused to accept the diagnosis. “I just never believed it in my heart,” she said. “I never thought it was the end.” Latham, a nurse at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, was shocked by what COVID-19 had done to her father when she saw him April 29. The robust, garrulous New York City police lieutenant was unconscious on a ventilator, bloated by 50 pounds of fluid, with sores on his face from lying on his stomach, a position that helps COVID-19 patients breathe.

When Red Flags Are Too Late: Police leaders Must Act Now To Save Their Officers
What’s worse than a crisis? A crisis inside a crisis. Law enforcement may be on the verge of losses far deeper than even anti-cop activists could imagine. Recognizing the unique characteristics of the recent era of COVID-19 threats and existential threats facing law enforcement as a whole and police officers individually, Dr. Michelle Lilly of the Department of Psychology at Northern Illinois University and Sergeant Shawn Curry of the Peoria (Illinois) Police Department recently conducted a survey of police officers regarding these contemporary stressors. The results reveal a frightening spike in mental health concerns from the effect of recent events. As a good research document does, this report, under the auspices of the Training and Research Institute for Public Safety (TRIPS), recites previous studies documenting the prevalence of PTSD and trauma experienced in the general public compared to police officers. While those statistics are revealing, this new survey data is a very compelling call to police leadership to take immediate action.

Public Safety News

More Than 3.2 Million Acres Have Burned Across California This Year; Death Toll Reaches At Least 24
As the death toll in California’s wildfires swelled to 24, authorities continued to search for a number of people still missing and firefighters toiled to keep multiple blazes from reaching populated communities ahead of an expected uptick in winds. More than 3.2 million acres have burned across the state this year, the largest amount on record. Together, the fires have destroyed at least 4,100 structures and forced more than 60,000 people from their homes. The devastation prompted a visit from President Trump, who arrived in Northern California on Monday for a briefing on the wildfires.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations Decline In L.A. County, But Health Officials Say Region Not Quite Ready For Further Reopening
The number of daily coronavirus hospitalizations in L.A. County continues to decline, but the region is not quite ready to move forward in the reopening process, officials noted. As of Monday, there are 775 people hospitalized with COVID-19, a decline from just one day earlier. “This number was over 1,000 just a couple of weeks ago and has dropped down similar to the numbers seen in April,” county public health officials said in a news release Sunday. “The decreasing number of daily hospitalizations is an important indicator because it is an accurate representation of how many people are currently seriously ill from the virus.” But while coronavirus figures have fallen back to pre-surge levels, officials reminded residents that the respiratory illness is still easily spread from person to person, and continued to urge people to take necessary precautions.

Californians Are Testing Positive For COVID-19 At The Lowest Rate On Record
As the Golden State faces a triple threat of respiratory risks — destructive wildfires, toxic air quality and a deadly pandemic — there is a faint glimmer of hope. Over the last seven days, just 3.5% of COVID-19 tests in California came back positive, the lowest rate since the state began reporting the data in late March. A month ago, the positive test rate was nearly twice as high. The number of new confirmed cases has fallen to the lowest level since mid-June, according to a Times analysis of state data. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have fallen to the lowest levels since the start of April, with 2,869 patients in hospital beds Saturday. These positive signs come as California reduces the turnaround time for coronavirus tests. Dr. Erica Pan, the acting state public health officer, said last week that laboratories are now producing test results in an average of 1.3 days.


Local Government News

Corruption is a hot topic at City Hall. Here’s how council candidates plan to fight it
As candidates face off this fall for two seats on the Los Angeles City Council, a debate has entered both campaigns: What’s the best way to root out corruption at City Hall? Federal investigators have alleged that real estate developers bribed city officials in exchange for help with their projects. The probe has cemented long-standing suspicions for many about pay-to-play practices at City Hall — and spurred the candidates in the Nov. 3 election to offer new proposals for tackling corruption.
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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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