LAPD Should Stop Handling Many Non-Emergency Calls, Police Union Says

The Los Angeles Police Department’s largest employee union is looking to have officers stop responding to more than two dozen types of calls, transferring those duties to other city agencies while focusing on more serious crimes. As part of its upcoming contract talks, the Los Angeles Police Protective League intends to tell city negotiators that it is willing to let other city departments or nonprofit agencies respond to calls about panhandling, illegal sidewalk vending, urinating in public, mental health episodes in which there is no threat of violence or criminal activity, and dangerous dog complaints in which “no attack is in progress.” Such a shift would free up officers to focus more on violent crime, solve more cases and improve officer morale, the union said. “Police officers are sent to too many calls that are better suited for unarmed service providers,” said Craig Lally, the union’s president, in a statement Tuesday. 

Los Angeles Times

Man Accused In West LA Hate Shootings Was Subject Of Law Enforcement Alert

An internal law enforcement threat notification was circulated in late 2022 about the man now facing federal hate crime charges for shooting two men near a synagogue in West Los Angeles, and at least two police agencies outside California stopped, but did not arrest, the man prior to the shootings. Jaime Tran, 28, is accused in a federal court complaint of violating U.S. hate crime laws for the attacks on February 15 and 16, in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Tran confessed to specifically targeting men he believed were Jewish. Both victims survived their wounds. The law enforcement alert, called a "guardian" lead, was sent after Tran allegedly began sending violent anti-Semitic email and text message threats to former classmates. "He was on the radar of our FBI partners because of hate-fueled remarks or emails that he was sending to former classmates of a dental school in which he was attending," Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday. Guardian alerts are collected and managed by the FBI and are provided to law enforcement agencies around the U.S. for information about potential or actual terrorism threats or suspicious activity, but they do not require police agencies to take any specific action.

NBC 4

Los Angeles’ Most Dangerous Intersections Are Concentrated In 1 Neighborhood, Study Finds

Los Angeles is known globally as a city where there are lots of cars (and lots of traffic). It’s not just freeways and interstates – the city has over 7,500 miles of city streets and thousands of intersections. And every year, those streets see thousands of crashes. Which Los Angeles streets are most dangerous? Nexstar asked MoneyGeek, a personal finance site, to crunch the numbers. They combed through 13,851 police reports on collisions that resulted in an injury or fatality between 2020 and 2022 to determine where the city’s most dangerous intersections are located. They found that 86 intersections around the city saw at least 10 crashes with an injury or death. The most dangerous intersections, as you can see in the map below, are concentrated in one area: South Central Los Angeles. The area south of downtown, from I-10 to around I-105, is home to four of the five most dangerous intersections. The worst of the intersections analyzed was S. Vermont Avenue and W. Florence Avenue, where 19 crashes occurred between 2020 and 2022 that resulted in injuries.

KTLA 5

3 Indicted By Grand Jury In Alleged Hollywood Sex Exploitation Ring

Three people have been indicted by a grand jury for their alleged roles in a prostitution ring operating out of North Hollywood, in which models were pressured or coerced to have sex for money. On Tuesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a grand jury indictment against the three men who ran the prostitution operation through a company The Luxury Companion and a pornographic modeling agency called LA Direct Models. The three defendants, Karine Michmichian, Dwight Cunningham and Derek Hay, were formally charged in March 2020 on charges of pimping and pandering. Initially charged with 12 felony counts, that number has since risen to 20 with the inclusion of charges for conspiracy, money laundering and perjury. Michmichian and Cunningham are accused of using Hay’s prominent pornography talent company to find women to engage in sex with paying customers. In exchange, Michmichian and Cunningham received a cut of the profits, the California AG’s Office says. Hundreds of sexual encounters were set up through the scheme, charging documents state.

KTLA 5

Tory Lanez Sentencing Postponed In Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

A judge Tuesday set a new sentencing date of April 10 for rapper Tory Lanez, who has switched attorneys since being convicted of assault and two other charges for shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion in the feet during a 2020 argument in the Hollywood Hills. At a brief hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Superior Court Judge David Herriford agreed to rescind an order that had barred the 30-year-old Canadian rapper -- whose real name is Daystar Peterson -- from publicly commenting on the case. Lanez's new team of attorneys is expected to file a motion for a new trial, which is set to be heard April 10. Lanez -- who has remained jailed without bail since minutes after the Dec. 23 verdict -- was convicted of one felony count each of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle in connection with the shooting early the morning of July 12, 2020. Jurors also found true allegations that he personally used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury on Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete.

FOX 11

Authorities Search For Woman Who Disappeared In Los Angeles County

Authorities are searching for an at-risk woman who disappeared in Lancaster on Tuesday. The missing woman was identified as Elizabeth Scarleth Recinos, 23, by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Recinos was last seen at the intersection of 45th Street and West Avenue L around 3 a.m., authorities said. She is described as a Hispanic woman standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds with brown eyes and curly brown hair. She was last seen wearing black pants and a red and black jacket. Authorities say Recinos is diagnosed with depression and her loved ones are concerned for her well-being. Anyone with information is asked to call the LASD’s Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500.

KTLA 5

'You're Going To Die Today': Driver Traps Florida Cop Inside Car While Speeding Toward Power Pole

A driver is charged with attempted murder after he trapped an officer in his vehicle during a traffic stop and began to drive toward a pole, according to Florida police. Officers stopped the driver just after 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 25 and saw drug paraphernalia in the driver’s side door and a knife on the passenger seat, according to a release the Fort Walton Beach Police Department. The officers tried to get the driver, later identified as Antonio Marquis Belle-Betts , 27, out of the vehicle, but he refused, the release says. As officers tried to remove him, Belle-Betts trapped one of the officer’s arms in the vehicle and put it in drive, the release says. A backup officer tried to free the trapped officer as both were dragged down the street, according to police. The trapped officer’s arm became free, but the other officer got stuck in the vehicle with Belle-Betts as he accelerated, the release says. Belle-Betts took over the officer’s shoulder radio and told him, “You’re going to die today” as he drove toward a power pole, according to police. He also began striking the officer in the face, police said.

The Charlotte Observer

Kansas Man Gets 25 Years For Shooting At Officers During 2020 George Floyd Protest

A Wichita man will serve 25 years in prison for shooting at police officers in riot gear and armored vehicles during a nighttime protest at 21st and Arkansas in June 2020. A Sedgwick County jury in July found Henry E. Parker, 30, guilty of 18 counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, two counts of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and one count of criminal possession of a firearm in what prosecutors have said was a targeted attack on Wichita cops trying to disperse an unruly crowd early on June 2, 2020. The unrest followed a mostly peaceful protest calling for an end to police brutality after the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd. Prosecutors at trial said Parker left an overnight shift at his gas station job, drove to the protest and opened fire on police before heading back to work. Snapchat footage of the shooter and witness statements helped investigators solve the case. Parker's lawyer argued that the cops arrested the wrong man. Parker, the lawyer contended at the trial, left work to pick up a friend and was gone for so short a time that he couldn't have driven to the protest site.

Wichita Eagle

Driver Opening Beer Can Crashes Into, Injures Illinois Deputy Responding To Call

A deputy was seriously injured over the weekend after her cruiser was struck by a driver who ran a stop sign because he was opening a can of beer. The Lake County Sheriff’s deputy was responding to a battery in progress when the incident occurred, NBC Chicago reported. Two deputies were en route to the call with their lights and siren activated when a driver in a pickup truck failed to stop at a stop sign. Instead, the man drove directly in the path of the deputies. One deputy swerved to avoid hitting the truck, but the second deputy was unable to avoid the collision – striking the truck’s front driver’s side. The deputy suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but remains hospitalized, according to the report. The driver of the truck, who was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, told police the last thing he remembered before the crash was opening a can of beer.

PoliceOne

The Shooting Of A Temple University Police Officer Revives A Campus Safety Debate

Ringed by some of North Philadelphia’s most violent neighborhoods, Temple University is no stranger to armed robberies, muggings, home invasions, and even shootings affecting members of its campus community. It was just 15 months ago, the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2021, that the city’s largest university was horrified when Samuel Collington, 21, a senior political science major, was fatally shot near campus during an attempted carjacking. The 17-year-old alleged shooter turned himself in to police days later, and is currently awaiting trial. This year, on the night of February 18, violence again struck the community when — for the first time in its nearly 140-year history — Temple University lost a campus police officer to gunfire in the line of duty. Officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, was repeatedly shot a block from a Philadelphia Police Department station while reportedly trying to stop a teen robbery suspect from suburban Buckingham Township. Police said surveillance video shows Fitzgerald giving chase on foot and catching up to the suspect, ordering him to the ground before the two begin to tussle. The suspect shot Fitzgerald multiple times after he fell to the ground. The suspect unsuccessfully tried to steal the dying officer’s gun before running a block away, police added, where he threatened to kill a pedestrian before stealing their car at gunpoint.

The Trace

Fire Engulfs Newly Opened Restaurant In Westchester

Westchester restaurant owners are picking up the pieces of what is left of their business after a fire ripped through their building destroying all of their dreams of owning a successful community driven restaurant. Now they are coming up with a new plan. There is a sign up telling customers stopping by that a family affair restaurant is no longer open. Soot covers the windows after the devastating fire and it has been incredibly tough on the owners who only opened their doors one year ago. Brittany Bryant and Jakiya Terrell were the owners of the restaurant and now only have a few pieces of what is left. "It is difficult coming here, I haven't wanted to come back," Terrell said. In the early morning hours of last Sunday, an electrical fire started in their kitchen. Now what remains are damaged items, soot and the strong smell of smoke forcing them to close. "This was our lifestyle waking up to do this on the daily, something we love," Bryant said. Opening "A Family Affair Southern Cuisine" was a dream for a long time for the two best friends who attended Westchester High School together.

NBC 4

LA County Reports 15 More COVID-Related Deaths; 921 New Cases

Los Angeles County health officials reported 15 new COVID-19-related deaths and 921 new infections in its latest data. The new fatalities lifted the county’s virus-related death toll from throughout the pandemic to 35,690. A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said. County health officials logged 921 new COVID infections for Tuesday, raising the overall total to 3,704,598. Daily case numbers released by the county are undercounts of actual virus activity in the county, due to people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, and others who don’t test at all. The seven-day average rate of people testing positive for the virus was 6.2% as of Tuesday, roughly steady from the past week.

MyNewsLA

LA County Moves Towards Retrofits For Buildings At Risk Of Collapse During Earthquakes

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a first step Tuesday toward requiring the retrofit of older, so-called "non-ductile concrete" high rises that are at higher risk of collapse during a powerful earthquake. The board voted unanimously to direct its public works staff and attorneys to draft an update to the county building code that would require retrofitting of all such buildings within 10 years that are either located in unincorporated areas or owned by the county. The code would also require that owners of impacted buildings submit structural evaluation reports within three years, and plans to retrofit or demolish the buildings within five years. "While the county building standards have been updated to ensure new construction can withstand seismic activity, the most vulnerable buildings are non-ductile concrete high rises, which are prone to brittle behavior during an earthquake," according to the motion by Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis.

CBS 2

LA County To Lift COVID Emergency On March 31 As California's Declaration Ends Tuesday

California's coronavirus emergency declaration officially comes to an end Tuesday, but the change is not expected to have too much of an impact on people. This comes nearly three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared COVID-19 a public health emergency. Since then, Newsom has lifted most restrictions, such as mask requirements, beach closures and business shutdowns prompted by the pandemic. Given that, the emergency declaration's end is more of a symbolic marker for the state. Locally, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to end the county's local emergency declarations due to COVID-19 at the end of March, while warning that the move doesn't mean the virus no longer poses a threat. "Yes, COVID-19 is still with us," Supervisor Hilda Solis said. "No, we don't want to abandon those tools that got us to this place ... but with effective vaccines and testing abundantly available we can move on to the next phase of our response to COVID-19."

ABC 7

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 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.