Keep Bailing

I didn’t need to see the morning news to find out that the LAPD cleared out the Los Angeles Occupy site. Instead, we were answering calls from family looking to post bail bonds for the protesters.

Apparently, more than 200 Occupy Los Angeles protestors were arrested early this morning in what the Los Angeles Police Department calls a “peaceful sweep”. LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck addressed the media shortly after the disbandment of the camp, saying that the arrests were “mainly peaceful”.

Arrestees were loaded onto buses and taken to the LAPD Metro Jail to be booked and processed.  Bail for those that called us was set at $5,000. The jailer at the downtown LA Metropolitan Center Jail told us that protestors would not be released on their own recognizance or “cited out” as protesters usually are. We are somewhat skeptical of that given the already overcrowded Los Angeles jail systems. However, each individual will certainly be screened for warrants on a nation-wide basis. So with so many individuals to book in, any release, be it on bail or otherwise will be hours away.

According to  the Los Angeles Times, several hundred police officers arrived at the camp just after midnight and surrounded the encampment and declared it to be an “unlawful assembly”. Occupiers were told Read more »

White House “Top Cop” honors were awarded to four Los Angeles police officers who were chosen out of 30 potential awardees.

“We’re grateful for the sacrifices you and your families make, and my administration is committed to making sure that you get what you need,” President Barack Obama told the honorees at the Rose Garden ceremony.

The Los Angeles Police Department honorees are: Sergeants John D. Shah and Greg Garcia and Officers Richard Garcia and Gilberto Rendon Jr.

President Obama stated that these four honorees are Read more »

Starting with the upcoming home game at Dodger Stadium, stricter security measures will be put into place. Police Chief Charlie Beck made the announcement Friday, stating that the stadium will be implementing a zero- tolerance policy for unruly fans.

The decision for increased security was announced eight days after Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan, was brutally attacked in the stadium parking lot. Stow is a 42-year-old paramedic in Northern California and father of two. The attack has left him in a coma.

Some of the security measures that Beck announced include:

• Any off-duty police officers hired by the Dodgers for security will be in uniform
• LAPD officers at all stadium entrances and exits
• The no-tailgating policy Read more »

The LAPD is going to receive funding from a $640,000 loan in order to keep sworn officers on the street and civilians to staff the newly opened Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the LA Times, on Wednesday, officials finalized the loan that will enable the LAPD to have more officers on patrol rather than standing guard in the jail.

The Los Angeles Police Department, earlier this month made a plan to put 89 officers into staffing the detention center instead of being put on patrol because the jails were understaffed.

City Councilman, Greig Smith, along with others was unhappy with this plan and thus, approached a new plan. The plan would be to get a loan from a city trust fund, which is exactly what happened. The LAPD will receive an interest-free loan of approximately $640,000, under the condition Read more »

Charlie Beck, the LAPD’s Chief, stated on Thursday that if the City Council continues to refuse the hiring of new officers, crime will rise. The Thursday meeting was the second meeting of the week where Beck urged City Council members to keep the police force at 100,000 officers. Beck stated, “If we go back on that, we’ll go back on these gains.”

In relation to “gains,” it has been pretty impressive. For the first time in over four years, homicides in the last year dropped below 300. Beck said, “This is the ninth year of crime reduction in Los Angeles – no other big city has that.”

Beck further relayed at the meeting that the LAPD has already suffered from reduced overtime, budget cuts and the postponement of purchasing new police cars. There are certain members of the City Council who are interested in downsizing the LAPD in order to fill a $300 million deficit in their budget. One of these City Council members is Bernard Parks, Budge Committee Chairman who was a former police chief.

However, there are members who are Read more »

According to the LA Times, Domingo Rodas, 53, was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with the stabbing of four homeless men, two fatally, in Hollywood.

The attacks occurred Thursday afternoon near the spot where, a few hours earlier, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William J. Bratton had held a news conference to tout a major reduction in crime and announce the hiring of 40 new officers for Hollywood.

Police said they chased down and arrested Domingo Rodas, 53, after he ran near the Music Box theater on Hollywood Boulevard, where officers were gathering evidence from one of the stabbings.

Until Thursday, there had been only six homicides in the LAPD’s Hollywood Division this year.