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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

August 25, 2022
Law Enforcement News

LAPD officer's body cam captures scary moment baby stopped breathing
Body cam video on an LAPD officer shows the frightening moment a baby had stopped breathing and needed CPR. The video is difficult to watch, but viewers should know the child survived and is expected to make a full recovery. The LAPD shared the scary incident on Twitter, but did not give information about the child or his age. CBS Los Angeles


‘It Was Madness': Teen Girl Sought In San Pedro Shooting That Left Woman, Boy Wounded
A 19-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy were shot during an altercation in San Pedro late Tuesday, police said. The incident unfolded around 11:55 p.m. near the intersection of Mesa and West 1st streets, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Letisia Ruiz said. Police said the woman and another female were involved in an argument related to a romantic relationship before shots rang out. The two victims were wounded and taken to a hospital. Their conditions are unclear. Police detained a female, but she was eventually released. The suspected shooter remains at large. She is described as a 14-year-old girl who was last seen running on Pacific Avenue, police said. A witness told KTLA she heard “a lot of screaming, a lot of shouting, talking about ‘come out, do something'” before a shot was fired. “It was madness,” she said, adding that a woman tried to stop one victim's bleeding while neighbors rushed to the scene and called 911. Video from the scene showed officers scouring the area for a suspect and placing evidence markers on the ground. KTLA 5


Matthew Hunt, Longtime LAPD Leader, Dies At 91
Matthew Hunt, a longtime leader in the Los Angeles Police Department known for his disarming Irish accent and willingness to confront problems within the department, including publicly calling out his boss in the days after the unrest that followed the acquittals of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King, died on Saturday. He was 91. He died at his daughter's residence in Rancho Palos Verdes of complications of cancer, according to his son, Tom Hunt. “He was ahead of his time,” former City Councilmember and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said, praising Hunt for his dedication to creating a more diverse and transparent department. “He was really a stickler and spoke up and wasn't shy about fairness. Holding people accountable, but fairly.” During his 31 years with the department — a trajectory that began with graduating valedictorian at the academy and led to him ultimately being considered as a finalist for the department's top job — Hunt rose to the rank of deputy chief. He spent many years with the department working in South L.A., where he extolled the importance of building relationships with residents. Los Angeles Times


North Hollywood Man Arrested For Abusing Toddler Son Who Suffered Head And Brain Injuries, LAPD Says
A man was arrested in North Hollywood Tuesday for allegedly abusing his 14-month-old son and leaving him with permanent head and brain injuries. Los Angeles police say the child was taken to a hospital March 22 and underwent emergency surgery due to the alleged abuse. A lengthy investigation later identified the child's biological father, Cesar Daniel Cabrera, 21, as a suspect in the case, according to LAPD. Police say Cabrera admitted to abusing the child when he was questioned. LAPD says the boy suffered permanent head and brain injuries. Cabrera was arrested Tuesday and booked at Van Nuys Jail. An LAPD captain tweeted photos of the man being taken into custody outside the family's North Hollywood apartment. Cabrera posted bond Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 13. The L.A. County District Attorney's Office filed charges of assault on a child resulting in paralysis and child abuse resulting in great bodily injury.  ABC 7


Man Shot By Assailant In Hollywood
A man was in the hospital Thursday after being shot by two assailants in Hollywood. Officers responded at 12:59 a.m. to Selma and Wilcox avenues where they found a man in his 20s suffering from gunshot wounds, LAPD Officers Annie Hernandez told City News Service. Witnesses told police two men approached the victim as he was walking and demanded his property. The victim resisted and as he began struggling with one of the suspects the other shot him multiple times, Hernandez said. The suspects ran away and the victim was taken to a hospital. The shooting is under investigation. MyNewsLA


Man Shot In Attempted Carjacking in Boyle Heights
A man was shot during an attempted carjacking early Wednesday in Boyle Heights. The shooting was reported just before 1 a.m. in the 1400 block of East Third Street east of downtown Los Angeles. A man told police he was driving home when someone walked up to his car, pointed a gun at him and attempted to take the car. The attacker shot at the victim twice before running away, police said. The victim was hospitalized with gunshot wounds, but details about his condition were not immediately available. A detailed description of the shooter was not immediately available. NBC 4


The Battle Against Ghost Guns: How LA County Has Tried To Stop The Sale Of Untraceable Firearms
Despite state and local bans on ghost guns, these untraceable firearms have only exploded in popularity across Los Angeles County. "About 133% increase to show you the proliferation of guns," said Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Kris Pitcher. The popularity of these weapons has skyrocketed in past years with 813 recovered by LAPD in 2020 compared to 1921 in 2021, an increase of 133%. So far this year, LAPD has confiscated 1058. Pitcher said the number of ghost guns taken off the street has quadrupled in the past five years and attributes the proliferation of these firearms to their sheer availability. "Those numbers are frightening," said Gascón. Los Angeles became one of the first cities to pass a law banning not only ghost guns but the buying and selling of their parts and pieces. Four years before the city's ordinance, California rolled out a similar law requiring the registration of ghost guns by engraving serial numbers on them. The state even strengthened its law two months ago, restricting the sale of unserialized ghost gun kits, parts and pieces, similar to L.A. CBS 2


Los Angeles Police Show Off Vehicles Seized During Street Takeover Crackdown
As the Los Angeles Police Department continues to crackdown on street takeovers, KTLA got a look inside a tow yard where some vehicles are being stored after a recent sweep. A tow yard in South Los Angeles is housing two cars that were apparently involved in street takeovers over the weekend. Police recovered a nitrous oxide tank inside one vehicle that participants were allegedly using to get high. Police say the vehicles will stay there for 30 days. During a crackdown over the weekend, police arrested six people, impounded 43 vehicles and recovered four guns. The suspects were arrested on suspicion of a gun violation, an attempted murder warrant and one hit-and-run. Authorities said they prevented 22 street takeovers. “We're going to be out here again, we're not going to stop, we're going to keep going,” LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said. “We're going to start hopefully getting more resources our way to keep doing this more and more until this problem starts to slow down.” KTLA 5


Exclusive: Man Arrested After Chasing Woman & Throwing Scooter Near Growing Homeless Encampment
A man went on a rampage early Thursday evening after chasing a female parking attendant and throwing a scooter at another person just one block away from the growing homeless encampment on Venice Blvd and Pacific Avenue. “He just went nuts, yelling profanities while chasing a parking attendant in the parking lot. He then ran back towards the mini-store, picked up a scooter, and threw it at this guy. Fortunately, the guy caught the scooter and started chasing him,” described an eyewitness who watched the entire incident. The suspect, described as a Middle Eastern man in his mid-twenties, was later arrested just a block away from the mini-store. Four police cars and about eight police officers were on the scene, asking the two victims questions while gathering additional information. “The guy was wearing what looked to be a brand new blue suit that was too big for him,” said the eyewitness. Westside Current


Video: California SWAT Team Rescues Hostages From Sword-Wielding Man
The Sacramento Police Department on Tuesday released video of a SWAT team officer shooting a man wielding a sword as he held his wife and children hostage inside his home. The police shooting occurred Aug. 10 during a rescue at the Sacramento home in the 100 block of Dragonfly Circle, after several hours of officers trying to convince the armed man to come out and peacefully surrender. A member of the Sacramento Police SWAT team shot and wounded Isaiah Gardner as he held the sword in a raised position next to his wife and children in a bedroom, according to the Police Department. Gardner was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Police said Gardner on Tuesday was in stable condition and continuing to receive medical treatment. He will be booked on suspicion of false imprisonment at the Sacramento County Jail once he is released from the hospital. The Police Department released an edited video of the shooting with narration, along with two body-worn camera videos, a dispatch audio recording and an audio recording from the Crisis Negotiation Team. Shortly before 1 a.m. Aug. 10, patrol officers were called to the Dragonfly Circle home, just north of San Juan Road in the Gateway West neighborhood that sits northwest of the Interstate 5 and Interstate 80 junction. Sacramento Bee


Police: Suspect In Oklahoma Deputy Shooting Planned To Kill
The man suspected of fatally shooting an Oklahoma deputy sheriff and wounding another planned to kill law any enforcement officer who arrived at the home where he lived, police said Tuesday. “There was plenty of information (Monday) inside that home, and I won't go into a lot of detail of it, but I can tell you with 100% confidence he was planning on killing any law enforcement that came to his house,” Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley said during a Tuesday news conference. “I would ... say he planned it because of the way it went down,” Gourley said, declining to elaborate because of the active investigation into the shooting. Benjamin Plank, 35, was arrested on first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill warrants in the fatal shooting of Deputy Bobby Swartz and wounding of Deputy Mark Johns as they attempted to serve eviction papers at the southwest Oklahoma City home. Swartz had been a deputy since 1997, Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said. Johns first became a deputy in 1991, retired in 2016, then was rehired in January, according to Johnson. Associated Press


Public Safety News


LA County Reports 19 More COVID-19 Deaths, 3,860 New Cases
Another 19 COVID-19-related fatalities were reported in Los Angeles County in the latest data, while the number of virus-positive patients in county hospitals ticked up slightly. The 19 new deaths lifted the county's virus-related death toll to 33,060. Another 3,860 new COVID-19 infections were also reported by the county, raising its cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,390,012. The county-reported case figures are believed to under-count the actual number of infections, since many people now rely on at-home tests, the results of which are often not relayed to county health officials. According to state figures, there were 924 virus-positive patients in county hospitals as of Wednesday, up slightly from 915 on Tuesday. Of those patients, 104 were being treated in intensive care units, the same number as Tuesday. Hospitalization numbers have been steadily dropping since late July, when the number of virus-positive patients topped 1,300 during a surge fueled by the Omicron variant of the virus. MyNewsLA


988 Suicide Prevention Hotline Sees Increase In Calls Weeks After Its Launch
The nation's new 988 Suicide Hotline, which launched six weeks ago, is being inundated with calls. The three digit hotline was set up as an alternative to 911 and provides free support to anyone who is in emotional distress. Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Century City is one of the nearly 200 crisis centers across the country taking calls on the new, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. "We noticed a huge increase in calls, chats, and texts," said Carolyn Levitan the director of crisis care at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. Levitan is the senior director of crisis care at Didi Hirsch. She says since the launch of, 988, there has been a 35% increase in calls to the local suicide hotline. Texts from people for help has doubled. Levitan wants to reassure callers that the goal of,  988 , is to provide support and resources and not to send law enforcement to the homes of those in crisis. "Many people worry if they talk about suicidal thoughts there's so much stigma in our society that people are going to call the ambulance or emergency services right away and that's really not the case," Levitan said. "Only about 3% of our contacts end in an emergency response." John and Soo Marasigan from Sherman Oaks lost their daughter to suicide about two year ago. "It's what parents nightmares are made of," John Marasigan said. NBC 4

Local Government News


Los Angeles Council Members Propose Citywide Office Of Unarmed Response
Los Angeles could soon have an Office of Unarmed Response and Safety to respond to non-violent situations under a motion introduced today by seven council members. The effort, led by Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, would build on previous council plans to create unarmed crisis-response models. A motion introduced in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody called for non-violent calls to be diverted from the Los Angeles Police Department. Members of the council said the goal of Wednesday's motion -- also supported by Council President Nury Martinez and members Monica Rodriguez, Kevin de León, Bob Blumenfield, Curren Price and Nithya Raman, is to unite existing initiatives and implement a citywide unarmed response model.  Westside Current

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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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