Watch LAPD Surveillance Video of Arson suspect. ATF, LASD, LAFD turn up heat in investigation.

LAPD has Posted this surveillance video of a possible arson suspect, officially a ” Person of Interest “.

Detectives have a person of interest who was captured on surveillance video from multiple locations where arson fires have occurred.  He is described as a male with light complexion wearing dark clothing and a pony tail hair style.  Detectives are asking anyone with information on this individual to contact the task force at Robbery Homicide Division at 213-486-6890.  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477)

Reward up to $60,000.00 for information leading to the arrest and conviction has been offered.

 

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LAPD Officers Still Have No New Contract Public Safety & Chief Beck In Question.

65 Patrol cars off the streets, Mandatory time off for officers further reducing the on duty officers, Detectives working for free because they have surpassed the 400 hour Comp time limit, and the City has hit the department with a $41 Million dollar shortfall.

Did we mention the LA Times reported some 11,000 Felons may be released early onto the streets of Southern California?

Chief Beck

While Chief Beck is busy asking civilian employees to take bad contracts and interfering with those elections his department is getting slashed before him no easy fix exists as the City refuses to hire cheaper civilian alternatives and sworn officers are still performing over 200 civilian jobs.

LAPD officers who agreed to ratify their MOU and accept the 400 hour comp time agreement 18 months ago are facing threats from the LAPD “to reassign personnel from specialized commands to patrol assignments”

Which specialized commands are these and why this tone by the city and department?

LAPPL, or the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the Union that represents the majority of rank and file officers is still trying to work with the City after repeated bad faith maneuvers by the City.

First the Retiree Health Concession that was thrown onto the LAPD and LAFD caught the unions off guard as they had not even began bargaining with the city to have that thrown at them, freezing the medical was not even something the unions had a chance to discuss but the civilian campaign was in full swing and the sworn members fell victim to an anxious council.

Now the city is ignoring their previous commitment to pay officers in Cash after the 96 hour threshold is met.

In a letter to Chief Beck the Union attempts to explain that they can’t simply change the contract like many civilian Unions would.

“To be clear, the League’s Board of Directors cannot agree to extend the 400-hour CTO cap without membership ratification, per the MOD (Article 1.2 B, p. 1) and our bylaws. The language and the intent of this MOD article are clear: after the 96-hour threshold is met, the City is obligated to pay its employees in cash for all hours worked.”

Shaving 41 million from the department budget won’t be easy, but asking sworn members of the LAPD to work for free while continuing to hire new officers puts public safety at risk when short term, off the cuff solutions are implemented.

Chief beck needs to stay out of the bargaining process and the city needs to remember they are Legally mandated to bargain in good faith.

 

 

SEIU 721 Opposes LAPPL on major issues at expense of own membership.

Somewhere in the budget process a line was drawn between sworn and civilian and it hurts employees on both sides.

Service Employees International Union has decided to not only back the Measure L library campaign but it ‘s work-site organizers accuse the LAPPL of opposing the measure because “it will only help the police department”.

I am saddened to say that SEIU 721 has lost common sense this election season, first failing to take members desire to challenge Bernard Parks seriously waiting until other major unions invested heavily in the challenger before making a move then followed by actively supporting the Library measure Measure L which will directly hurt it’s very own members. That is not my opinion, that is a fact;

Passage of Measure L will result in

  • Increase via Charter change the amount of the General Fund budget it is allocated. It takes limited funds and reduces those funds to other general funded departments.
  • It Will directly lead to more animals being euthanized  – Animal Services
  • Less Potholes Fixed & less Streets repaved. – Street Services
  • Significantly reduce 911 operators, Detention officers, and Police officers to respond to emergencies and protect life and property.
  • It could result in further closures of Fire Stations by LAFD.
  • Less building inspectors to conduct investigations.

The list is endless of the general fund positions which could be dramatically affected by this measure with an overwhelming amount of those classifications represented by SEIU 721, council staffers and the CAO have clearly said as much.

Los Angeles Library deserves it’s fair share of funding, but not mandated by charter change and not at the expense of other vital city services.

The list of those in favor of the measure, the LA City Council, could have chosen to increase the budget of the library, they chose not to and now claim to support the measure.

Against the Measure the Los Angeles Times, the League of Women Voters and scores of other groups who see this move as negative approach to the LA City budget.

Libraries are a vital part of Los Angeles, it is up to the elected officials to determine the amount of the budget to allocate to each department.

As a vital part of the community,  if children are to afraid to walk to the library because of  the gangs or the roads are to impassable one can’t drive there, their benefit is lost.

SEIU 721 should worry less about the business of the LAPPL and what they support and worry more about the members it is paid to represent.

It is a disgrace to the rank and file members of the City of Los Angeles Unions.

As we saw firsthand with the Detention & Senior detention officers this budget year it is really up to the employees in 721 to take action for themselves.

We support both the LAPPL and the strong representation of it’s membership as well as the Library department and their creative measures to protect it’s members.

Summer Night Blight Mayor Villaraigosa’s Biggest Failure yet! High Crime for 19 Million

So Mayor Villaraigosa touts his Summer Night Lights program as some miracle success story, well the numbers don’t lie, Crime is the same if not higher and here is why.

LAPD Roll Calls have targeted surrounding neighborhoods to decrease crime in the surrounding park zones created by the mayors office and directed to LAPD Brass as a no crime zone. Mass enforcement heavier patrols should equal less crime right?

If you listen to the Mayors office it worked, his nearly 20 Million dollar program to fatten his former gang members associates pockets has transformed communities and made impressive reductions in crime.

Yes the same programs that in Years past was funneled to purchase the very same weapons that kill people every day by gang members, the one who’s critical audits continuously return flawed accounting and debatable claims of success.

No Really, he actually believes giving drug dealers and gang members lit places in which to deal drugs in the middle of the night has reduced crime.

Here for you to see for yourself even after the Mayors office pushed Chief beck to quell the problem areas so he could claim success are the compstat crime figures for the areas containing the Summer Night Lights program six-month summary.

Jordan Downs
366 violent crimes, 568 property crimes, 227.6 crimes per 10,000 people

A Crime rate higher then Lynwood, year to date SouthEast Division shows a 44% Increase in shooting victims, 11% Increase in Shots Fired & a total of 171 Shooting Victims  with a total of  33 homicides, 24 Rapes, & 662 Aggravated Assaults.

Ramona Gardens
289 violent crimes, 849 property crimes, 114.7 crimes per 10,000 people

Van Ness
293 violent crimes, 490 property crimes, 201.5 crimes per 10,000 people
5 Murders & 7 Rapes

Mount Carmel
259 violent crimes, 410 property crimes, 235.8 crimes per 10,000 people

Ross Snyder

283 violent crimes, 444 property crimes, 166.6 crimes per 10,000 people

Delano Street Park Area

290 violent crimes, 1,293 property crimes, 142.9 crimes per 10,000 people

Highland Park
106   violent crimes,  401 property crimes, 83.3 crimes per 10,000 people

Lemon Grove

243 violent crimes, 698 property crimes, 120.3 crimes per 10,000 people

3 homicides 11 rapes 81 assaults 148 robbery’s

Hubert Humphrey

218 violent crimes, 748 property crimes, 118.8 crimes per 10,000 people

8 Homicides 10 rapes 125 Aggravated Assaults & 75 robberies

Sepulveda
169  violent crimes, 750 property crimes, 132.0 crimes per 10,000 people

Jackie Tatum Harvard

111 violent crimes, 215 property crimes, 299.4 crimes per 10,000 people

No Summer Night Lights

Sylmar
138 violent crimes, 651 property crimes, 99.1 crimes per 10,000 people

Highest Tax Paying communities

Bel Air
3 violent crimes, 31 property crimes 41.2 crimes per 10,000 people

Palisades
1  violent crime, 154 property crimes, 60.8 crimes per 10,000 people

Sherman Oaks
51 violent crimes, 991 property crimes, 159.2 crimes per 10,000 people

Hollywood Hills
32 violent crimes, 396 property crimes, 186.2 crimes per 10,000 people

Why bring up some of the highest paying tax areas?

Because some of these very communities have suffered significantly in funding the summer nights program, Pacific Palisades was robbed of one of it’s paramedic units, browned out.

Street Sweeping of posted and non posted streets alike have taken a nose-dive, pothole and sidewalk repairs have taken a backseat, tree trimming is gone, and the San Fernando Valley has lost it’s only LAFD Hazardous Materials Response Team.

Beverly Glen, Mulholland Dr. and the Hollywood Hills are in significant disrepair, Frankly, the areas which pay the highest taxes are getting the least representation and the least city services.

Employees are asked to take two days a month off  in order to save the budget, only to have it clearly wasted on programs such as summer lights. Employees in Street Services are charged with maintaining the Public rights of way, Funded by ARRA, Gasoline and Diesel fuel sales taxes and DMV fee’s.

Why are Street  Service Employees furloughed then? Budget year started with a 12.2 Million dollar Surplus and magically it all went away.

Countless departments are exempted from furloughs as a result of the funding they get, wouldn’t it make sense to keep those people working whjo are making LA a better place to live instead of buying a gang -member a late night snack?

Ask yourself, Would you let your daughter hang out in the public park at midnight?

A police officer friend told me once, Only 3 types of people out after midnight, Cops, Criminals, and Victims.

We must hold accountable those who insist on stealing our limited tax money to fund feel good programs.

Next time you hit a pothole remember, feeding gangsters at night is more important then the public services you rightfully deserve.