By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/19/2011 @ 04:15 PM

Anyone hoping we would see a downturn in assaults on police officers – in Los Angeles and nationwide – has to be deeply disappointed by statistics released last week by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

Chief Beck reported to the Police Commission that assaults on LAPD officers are up 26.7 percent this year compared with 2010. He noted that as assaults on police officers increase, so do the number of officer-involved shootings – up 58.8 percent this year.

The Chief’s reports were concurrent with other somber news. Police officer deaths in the line of duty have increased 14 percent across the U.S. compared to last year, according to a preliminary report released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Firearms-related deaths were the number one cause of officer fatalities nationwide, a change from previous years. “For the first time in 14 years, firearms-related deaths will outnumber traffic and ‘other’-related deaths,” said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the fund, in a recent CNN article.

With a total of 10 fatalities, California was fourth in line of the states with the highest number of fatalities, just behind New York, Florida and Texas (data as of December 13, 2011). The 14 percent increase can be attributed to factors including budget cuts and a surge of violence toward police officers, according to Floyd. “We’re hearing about more brazen, violent activity today, more cold-blooded murders,” Floyd told CNN.

This increased violence toward officers is a solemn reminder of the dangers that police officers face on a daily basis. We again lament the stark disconnect between falling crime rates and assaults on police officers. There’s no compelling, clear evidence why this is occurring. All we can say with certainty is that despite declining crime statistics, policing remains a very dangerous profession.

To our law enforcement brothers and sisters, as the end of 2011 draws near, may you never forget the fellow officers that gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for the protection of others, and may you always look out for the safety of your colleagues as you protect and serve your communities.

Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein LA Times blog Jan  3, 2012

A map shows the locations of fires possibly linked to the recent arson spree. (Los Angeles Times)

The mother of the suspect in a string of arson fires in Los Angeles was arrested last week at the request of the German government.

Dorothee Burkhart in is federal custody in Los Angeles after Germany requested she be detained on an arrest warrant, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

He said he could not disclose the nature of the alleged crime because the case was sealed. The arrest occurred just before the arson spree began.

MAP: Southland arsons

Dorothee Burkhart is due in court Tuesday afternoon.

Her son, Harry Burkhart, 24, was booked on arson charges on Monday. He is a German national who carried travel papers from Chechnya, police say, but has lived in Southern California for the last several years.

Authorities are not clear on his motives but speculated that he might have been angry about his mother’s pending deportation.

PHOTOS: Southland arsons

A senior LAPD official said the suspect had attended a recent immigration hearing regarding his mother’s case and erupted in a tirade, spewing angry anti-American statements.

It was this incident that eventually led police to Burkhart. Several sources said the tip came from an official at the State Department. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for helping identify Burkhart.

TV footage showed Burkhart after his arrest, dressed in black, wearing his hair in a ponytail and grinning.

FULL COVERAGE: Southland arsons

Since Friday morning, at least 50 fires were set, mostly in the Hollywood area, but also on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley. Many of the blazes were in carports and driveways, and spread to apartment buildings and homes.

Los Angeles police said they have strong evidence tying Burkhart to the arson spree — including fire-starting materials found inside his minivan during his arrest Monday.

But officials have stressed that the investigation is still ongoing. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the department was moving cautiously and that it was unclear when exactly their case would be presented to prosecutors.

“We are confident in our investigation, but we have a long way to go,” he said.

In an interview with The Times, he added: “I feel very good that we’ve got the right guy. He had the right stuff in his van and I am confident in the arrest.”

Police served search warrants at his Hollywood apartment on Monday evening.

Joel Rubin
LA Times blog
Dec 17, 2011

The covered body of gunman Tyler Brehm lies in the street. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck on Friday showered praise on the three officers who confronted a gunman firing on people in Hollywood last week.

The officers “put themselves directly in harm’s way, face to face with this suspect. They absolutely saved the lives of an untold number of people, who unknowingly were headed toward the violence,” Villaraigosa said at a press conference to honor the officers.

The Dec. 9 shooting rampage was shocking for its random and brazen nature. Around 10:30 in the morning, 26-year-old Tyler Brehm walked into the middle of the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, armed with a handgun, and opened fire at people as they drove by. Brehm fatally wounded one man and injured two other people.

Officer Kevin Cotter, who was off-duty, heard the shots from a nearby movie set where he was working a side job. Det. Craig Marquez and Officer Travon Dixon were at a coffee shop a few blocks away when frantic witnesses ran up to them with word of the gunfire. The three officers converged on the scene and found Brehm still shooting.

Brehm ignored orders from Cotter and Marquez to drop his weapon, witnesses said. When he pointed the gun at the officers, they shot and fatally wounded him.

Beck commended the officers for jumping into action in without hesitation despite the circumstances. Cotter was without his police radio and so had no idea what he was running into. The other officers were in plainclothes, had no protective vests and “were expecting a routine day of detective work,” Beck said.

“It’s one thing to go into a situation when you’re fully prepared, fully briefed, have all the information you need,” he said. “It’s another thing when a murderous rampage causes you … to go forth and directly challenge an armed gunman who has already taken someone’s life. That’s heroism.”

The mayor and chief also recognized several security officers from the Hollywood Business Improvement District who responded to the scene as well.

Marquez, who has served on the LAPD for 16 years, spoke on behalf of the other officers. He humbly downplayed all the talk of heroics. “I don’t think we’re heroes. I would like to think the 9,000 officers who wear this badge everyday would have done the exact same thing in that situation.”

Art Marroquin
Torrance Daily Breeze
Dec 16, 2011

Richard James Kim in an earlier LAPD booking shot.

One of the Los Angeles Police Department’s “most wanted” suspects was arrested as he was getting off a flight from South Korea to Los Angeles International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said today.

The LAPD had issued a warrant 12 years ago for Richard James Kim, 33, who was accused of attempted murder during a gang-related shooting in West Los Angeles, said CBP spokesman Jaime Ruiz.

He was held on $5 million bail, according to the county Sheriff’s Department’s website.

CBP officers confirmed the warrant through a database check into Kim’s background as he flew aboard a Korean Air jetliner into LAX on Thursday morning, Ruiz said.

Kim and two juvenile accomplices allegedly shot two men with a .38 caliber handgun during an argument over gang affiliation, according to the LAPD and CBP.

The two younger accomplices were previously arrested, authorities said.

“CBP officers are to be commended for their superior vigilance and steadfastness in protecting our nation’s borders,” said Todd Owen, CBP’s director of field operations in Los Angeles. “This is only one of the hundred of fugitives, criminals and pedophiles intercepted and apprehended at LAX every year.”

LA Daily News
Dec 20, 2011

Last weekend, an unlicensed driver ran down a 60-year-old woman trying to cross the street in Panorama City, killing her.

The death renewed calls Monday to reverse a pending city policy to go easy on unlicensed drivers – many of them illegal immigrants – by not immediately impounding their cars.

“The tragic accident in Panorama City shows how the mayor’s new policy can result in innocent people being injured or killed,” said Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, in a statement.

“The mayor’s directive puts politics above public safety and should be rescinded.”

Responding to pressure from immigrant-rights groups, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck have created a new policy to lift a 30-day impound for cars of unlicensed drivers.

The policy, expected to be enacted in January, would only impound the cars of drivers whose licenses were revoked or suspended, or who have a prior conviction for driving without a license.

The remainder – including the cars of illegal immigrants – would not be towed. Instead, they could be picked up by the registered owner or another licensed driver.

This could save the drivers thousands of dollars in impound and towing fees, which many poor families can’t afford, defenders say.

“A lot of drivers can’t get their licenses because they’re undocumented, not because they don’t know how to drive,” said Gilbert Saucedo, a Los Angeles-based attorney working to ease city’s car impound policy.

“When you take somebody’s car, and they can’t get it back for 30 days, they can’t get to work. They can’t get their kids to school. It’s a huge burden.”

Peter Sanders, a Villaraigosa spokesman, did not return numerous calls for comment.

Protecting public safety

It was before dawn Saturday when Patricia Ellen Riedy of Wildwood, Mo., was killed by an unlicensed driver in Panorama City, police said.

Martha Cruz, 36, of Panorama City, was driving a black Ford Explorer and struck the woman outside a crosswalk on Woodman Avenue, police said.

Cruz was not arrested, but she was given a citation to appear in court. Her car was impounded during the investigation, police said. The Los Angeles police union said the accident underscores the danger of allowing unlicensed drivers to escape car impounds.

Of the 40,000 fatal car crashes across the nation each year, one in five involve an unlicensed driver, according to an American Automobile Association Study cited by the union.

In addition, unlicensed drivers are nearly five times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than licensed ones, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Weber with the police officers’ union said that is precisely why the state enacted the 30-day impound law for unlicensed motorists. Opponents, however, maintain it was to punish drunk drivers.

Weber said the mayor ignored that law – giving free reign to unlicensed drivers and illegal immigrants, rather than enforce impounds designed to protect public safety.

“An unlicensed driver willing to ignore the law is, at least temporarily, less likely to further violate this law because he or she will not have access to the impounded vehicle,” Weber said. “The cost and inconvenience of recovering an impounded vehicle discourages people without licenses from driving.”

Unfair targeting

Immigrants rights groups, however, say immigrants must drive anyway, and are unfairly singled out by the impound. They also question studies that show unlicensed drivers are more dangerous than anyone else.

What’s needed, they say, is a state law to get them properly regulated and licensed.

“It’s a basic moral fairness issue,” said Zach Hoover, executive director of L.A. Voice, a coalition of churches, synagogues and mosques working to overturn the 30-day impound. “Currently, the punishment does not fit the crime.”

Others say no punishment will undo the damage caused by unlicensed and uninsured motorists, sometimes permanently.

A year ago, Don Rosenberg’s 25-year-old son Drew was killed in San Francisco by an unlicensed driver whose car was impounded by authorities – then released.

The city’s prosecutors had returned a one-ton weapon in which to kill his son, he said, after they had taken it from an unlicensed motorist for driving against a one-way street.

Now he has written to Los Angeles officials to persuade them to reconsider the policy to not impound cars of unlicensed drivers.

“I think it’s criminally negligent. And the police chief, he should be fired for even considering it, it’s so outrageous,” said Rosenberg, 58, of Westlake Village. “It’s violating the law.

“(My son) was a good kid. (His death) didn’t have to happen, because the driver should never have been on the road. He was caught, and they let him go.”

The City’s approach to its current budget problems is hiring just enough replacements for LAPD officers lost through retirements and attrition. This approach, however, has been accompanied by an abandonment of the middle management positions needed for the Department to operate effectively.

With scant attention by outsiders, but growing alarm among those in the Department, there is a burgeoning number of vacancies for police officer III (288), sergeant (88), detective (122) and lieutenant (26). These are critical positions that need to be filled, as they are both the frontline supervisors and the Department leaders who make the day-to-day decisions most noticed by the public. Allowing these positions to go unfilled by failing to fund promotion opportunities for rank-and-file officers puts the Department and the City at risk of retreating to a bygone era.

This is not a theoretical concern – it is being felt Department-wide at an alarming rate. Too often in debriefing of incidents where mistakes were made, we find a lack of effective supervision was the primary reason why department policies and procedures were not followed. These leaderless breakdowns have unfortunately led to taxpayer-funded legal settlements. We believe that the failure to adequately fill frontline supervisor positions is leading to a lack of proper supervision and ineffective command and control that is infecting the entire Department. Do we need history to repeat? Have we not learned the lessons of the Rafael Perez/Nino Durden scandal, the Christopher Commission and the Consent Decree?

Supervisors direct, evaluate and monitor officer performance in the field. They respond to the scene of significant incidents; review reports, including arrest and booking reports; ensure the integrity of applications for warrants and the use of confidential informants; and they ensure the appropriate treatment of persons in custody. This is why supervisory positions need to be filled.

It’s not that promotions aren’t being granted. In fact, the Department has promoted 22 command officers. During this time, there have been only six promotions to the rank of detective, 16 to sergeant and 20 to lieutenant.

Funding command staff promotions while ignoring the needs of the day-to-day frontline supervision necessary to police our city is a recipe for disaster. It’s also a cause of frustration for qualified rank-and-file officers waiting on promotional lists established over the last year-and-a-half. The ensuing morale problem can undermine the LAPD’s effectiveness throughout the City.

We know that the large number of vacant positions at the rank of police officer III and above is already a concern to Department leaders; there’s no reason why it shouldn’t concern the Mayor and City Council, too. While City leaders can take satisfaction in seeing that the number of officers is not declining, they still need to understand the damage incurred to the core of the Department by the current hiring and promotion process. We cannot afford to return to the days of rising crime and violence that plagued our City when supervisory ranks were thin.

We call on the Mayor and the City Council to recognize the dangers of continuing to tolerate large numbers of unfilled supervisory positions within the LAPD and do something about it immediately. If City leaders don’t step up to this obvious problem, the decision to continue hiring officers will need to be reconsidered. It makes no sense to keep hiring police officers if we can’t be assured they’ll receive adequate training and supervision when they are patrolling our streets.

Leaving supervisory positions vacant may make short-term financial sense for the City, but could it lead to another leadership breakdown within the Department? Weigh in by leaving a comment below.

Stephanie Stassel and Shelby Grad
LA Times blog
Dec 8, 2011

Harry Morgan, left, and “Dragnet” co-star Jack Webb. (CBS)

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck had a word of tribute for Harry Morgan, the actor who played half of the classic “Dragnet” TV detective team.

“RIP 2 ‘Dragnet’ actor Harry Morgan aka Officer Gannon. May you and Sgt. Joe Friday ‘continue patrol’ in heaven,” Beck wrote on his Twitter account.

Morgan played Officer Bill Gannon for four seasons on “Dragnet,” a show that first was broadcast in the 1940s on the radio. He joined the cast in 1967, replacing Ben Alexander as the partner of Jack Webb’s Sgt. Friday.

The intense two-day shooting schedule challenged Morgan, as did Webb’s insistence that they speak in a flat monotone so they wouldn’t appear to be emotionally involved with the other characters.

Morgan later had a cameo in the 1987 Dan Aykroyd-Tom Hanks “Dragnet” spoof and provided the voice of Gannon for a 1995 episode of “The Simpsons.” He was perhaps best known for his years on the TV show “MASH.”

The actor was on hand two years ago at the L.A. Police Academy in Elysian Park to commemorate the release of a “Dragnet” postage stamp. He was joined by then-LAPD chief William J. Bratton and the widow of Webb.

Andrew Blankstein, Dalina Castellanos and Richard Winton
LA Times blog
Dec 11, 2011

A body is covered by a blanket after a shooting with police in Hollywood, California December 9, 2011. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

The ex-girlfriend of the man who opened fire on a street in Hollywood on Friday said he wanted to “change the world for the better.”

Alicia Alligood, 24, said that she and Tyler Brehm, 26, dated for four years before breaking up. In an interview with KTLA News, she described Brehm as “really stressed out lately” and said he’d recently started taking pharmaceutical drugs, which she called surprising because he wasn’t one to use hard drugs.

LAPD sources said that at about 10:20 a.m., Brehm began firing a .40-caliber handgun in the air and menacing motorists in a McDonald’s parking lot before walking toward the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. Just south of Sunset, he fired several shots at a silver Mercedes-Benz coupe. The driver, music industry executive John Atterberry, was struck by three bullets in the neck and face.

PHOTOS: A deadly scene in a Hollywood intersection

Brehm began walking into the bustling intersection, still firing into the air and at cars. Witnesses described a frenzied scene that to some seemed surreal because they initially thought the shooting was part of a movie being filmed in the area. But once the sound of bullets striking cars filled the air, pedestrians sprinted away, dashing inside businesses and jumping over walls.

Several drivers’ car windows were shot out. Others sped off or made U-turns, trying to avoid the gun-wielding Brehm, who wore sunglasses and was dressed in dark pants and a white tank top. An onlooker in a nearby building shouted at Brehm, trying to distract him. Some of the rampage was captured in videos and photos.

The shooting ended after about three minutes, when two LAPD officers, including an off-duty motorcycle officer working on a nearby movie set, confronted Brehm and ordered him to drop his gun.

Alligood said that she and Brehm went to junior high and high school together. She called him a “humanitarian” and said he wanted to “change the world for the better.”