William Bratton

Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Duel Over Budget Numbers

Councilman Eric Garcetti kept the focus on Wendy Greuel's plan to hire 2,000 cops and 1,000 firefighters today, arguing that his chief opponent in the campaign for L.A. mayor is making promises she can't keep."Independent analysis shows the numbers simply don't add up," Garcetti said this afternoon. ... More >>

Los Angeles Crime Was Down in 2011, But Comparisons to 1957 Are Yanking Your Chain

This bustling, global metropolis, with its Thaitown and Koreatown, Little Armenia and Oaxacan Westside, surely isn't the Leave it to Beaver burg it was in 1957. But L.A. city leaders, somewhat bullshittingly, continue to compare present day crime to that of the "Mr. Sandman" era. The latest stats ... More >>

Lee Baca's Jail Beating Problem Gets Watchdog With Teeth: Fellow Top Cop Jim McDonnell

Jim McDonnell from his LAPD days.​Sheriff Lee Baca has the FBI and the ACLU breathing down his neck over the alleged beatings of inmates (and even visitors) at his L.A. County jails. Now the omnipotent if not low-profile County Supervisors seem to be in a pissing contest to see who can appoin ... More >>

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Celebrates One Year On The Job: He Endured A Lot, From Cops Caught On Tape To The Lakers Riots

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is still standing tall.​Charlie Beck's first year as top cop at the LAPD has been trial by fire, to say the least. He was dropped into the gig by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the bottom of the nation's second-worst economy in history, and in the wake of one ... More >>

Los Angeles Murder Rate, Often Outpacing 2009's, Finally Dips In July

​Hounded by news of clashes-with-cops caught on tape and a stubborn murder rate that has been in plus territory almost since spring, the Los Angeles Police Department has something to celebrate this month: The city's homicide rate dipped into negative territory, according to department statist ... More >>

Los Angeles County Murder Rate Down As City Rate Continues To Outpace 2009

​As the city of Los Angeles continued to see an uptick in homicides this year, the county sheriff's department reported that the murder rate was down so far this year for the areas it patrols. In fact county homicides were down 17 percent through the end of June compared to the same period in ... More >>

LAPD Officers In Hot Water Over Bike Ride Incident Caught On Tape

YouTubeAn officer throws a regulation kick.​The Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation over the weekend after an officer was spotted apparently throwing a kick toward a bicyclist involved in a demonstration against British Petroleum Friday night in Hollywood. At least 400 bi ... More >>

Long Beach Scoops Up Jim McDonnell For Chief

LAPDJim McDonnell.​As is tradition at the Los Angeles Police Department, some of those unsuccessful internal candidates for chief often end up moving on to helm their own departments in other municipalities. Such was the case today as the city of Long Beach appointed Jim McDonnell as its next ... More >>

Police, Fire Department Cuts Likely For L.A., Experts Say

Councilman Bernard Parks says cuts to the LAPD inevitable.​In the recent golden years of Chief William Bratton, the Los Angeles Police Department's budget and hiring was a political third rail, and the City Councilmostly steered clear of budget and officer reductions (and when it didn't, it go ... More >>

L.A. Gang Tours: Exploitation Or Education?

​The first of those L.A. Gang Tours we told you about took place Saturday on a bus filled mostly with journalists, and concerns that the journeys would be exploitative looks at the ghetto seemed to be mostly allayed. "I was skeptical at first, and thought it would be a 'titillating' tour, lik ... More >>

LAPD Chief Breaking Up Effective Enforcement Unit

Chief Charlie Beck.​In his announcement this week that he would put 130 officers back on regular patrols, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck failed to emphasize that the move would break up an effective, mobile, crime-saturation unit that has been used to target gangs and problem areas in t ... More >>

Continued Decline For L.A. Crime According To Latest FBI Stats

​It could be a blessing or a curse for new Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck: Rates for major crimes in Los Angeles continued to dip in 2009. With continuing joblessness, a city struggling to find money to hire officers, and a looming release of 40,000 state prisoners, the only direction f ... More >>

Odelay: Beck Is Official As LAPD Chief

El Jefe.​Charlie Beck had a public swearing in as the 56th chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Thursday, and it was his father, retired LAPD Deputy Chief George Beck, who pinned the top-cop badge on his son for all to see in the plaza of the new Police Administration Building downtown. ... More >>

Council Puts Off Jackson Memorial Inquisition

Sony Pictures​Inquiring minds want to know who approved the city's involvement -- police, street closures, clean-up -- in the Michael Jackson memorial, but those minds are just going to have to wait. The City Council's Public Safety on Monday postponed its look into the memorial costs. We're ... More >>

Charlie Beck Confirmed As LAPD Police Chief

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Charlie Beck as the 55th chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.​A lifelong cop, Beck was the top choice of former Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Some critics believe that his selection was made too rapidly, without enoug ... More >>

Did New Chief Cover Up Skimming Of Taxpayer Funds?

Presumptive Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck was once accused of attempting to cover up a taxpayer-fueled treasure chest of millions of dollars that was allegedly amassed at the Los Angeles Police Relief Association while he was president of the group.Chief Charlie Beck.​ The claim was l ... More >>

The Rubber Stamp Is Ready For Chief Beck

Charlie Beck, as a candidate for the chief's job at the Los Angeles Police Department, we hardly knew ya. And now the City Council is poised to approve your nomination starting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.​It's only been a few weeks, in fact, since you were named as a top-three finalist for the job. A we ... More >>

Did Beck Jump The Queue For Chief?

Longtime San Fernando Valley observer and former Los Angeles Daily News editor Ron Kaye has found the recent process of choosing the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department to be fishy, and he recently told us so. But this week he blogs that presumptive Chief Charlie Beck was shoehorned into ... More >>

Cops Felonious In May Day Melee? D.A. Says No Way

Police who roughed-up and injured people in the so called "May Day Melee" in MacArthur Park in 2007 might have caused the city to pay out nearly $13 million in settlements but they didn't commit any crimes, the county district attorney announced today.Fox11Fox11 reporter Christina Gonzalez was pushe ... More >>

More Cop Files Found In The Open

The new Los Angeles Police Department touted by Chief William Bratton as he leaves office this month seems a lot like the old one, at least if you peek down hallways and through back doors. On Tuesday the police union released a photo it says show complaint files with names, serial numbers and locat ... More >>

Why Bratton's Really Leaving (Among Other Reasons): A Cash-Strapped LAPD

As we reported last week, City Hall is swirling with high-end, believable rumors about why Chief William J. Bratton is really leaving Los Angeles -- having nothing to do with his claim that he's abandoning ship mid-way through a five-year contract merely to go get rich in the private sector. Today, ... More >>

Bill Rosendahl drooling over Dianne Feinstein's U.S. Senate Seat

By Tibby RothmanResidents of Bill Rosendahl's 11th City Council District who lamented that their Los Angeles City Councilman's cojones vanished after he won office can rest assured--they've been found. Rosendahl tells LA Weekly that a really weird City Hall rumor that he's considering a run for U.S. ... More >>

California's May 19 Election

Schwarzenegger, Villaraigosa, Weiss, Bratton, Bass, all repudiated

Third Suspect Arrested in Deputy Slaying

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested a third suspect in the shooting death of an L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy. A fourth man remains at large. "We will bring all those responsible for the murders to justice," said Police Chief William Bratton at a 1 p.m. press conference at Parker Center, ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

DWP Ordered to Refund Customers A Superior Court judge has ordered the DWP to pay back $30 million in fees it channeled into cash-strapped city agencies. L.A. TimesBenefits Take a Holiday Employees of papers belonging to the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (Daily News, Daily Breeze, et al) have been tol ... More >>

Major Law Enforcement Crack down Nets the Gangsters of Drew Street

A multi-agency task force of 500 law enforcement officers swooped down on members of the avenues gang on Drew Street early this morning. The crackdown netted 32 members or associates of the “Drew Street” clique of the avenues. The operation, which began at 4 a.m., stemmed from a massive 157-pa ... More >>

Proposition S: City Hall's Black Hole

Don't expect the new city phone tax to be spent on cops and firefighters

The Big Picture

Patrick Ecclesine shoots like a boy

Hector Marroquin's Revenge

Feds arrest “No Guns” activist for selling guns, while L.A. politicians duck

MacArthur Park Showdown

LAPD clashes with immigrant-rights marchers

East Versus West

Fifteen years later, L.A. is still divided between served and servers

Urine Luck, L.A. Gangs!

Piddling programs — like teaching kids to install urinals — dominate Antonio’s plan to save the city’s youth

They See Dead People

For 1,000 murder victims, a new LAPD cold-case unit finally seeks justice

Ganging Up On City Hall

Is this really a surge in gang crime, or is Villaraigosa peddling fear?

North Hollywood Bizarro

Shootout memorial turns surreal

Culture Clash

John Mack and Connie Rice have looked at corruption from both sides now

What About Gloria, Mr. Mayor?

Hahn vs. Hahn

Janice tries to invoke reason in her brother�s gang injunctions

The Anger Commission

Mayor sends a message by sticking around to hear heated criticism about LAPD

Saving L.A.

Wanted: A city planner who can organize communities

G.I. George

The Man in Red

Pray tell, what are Steve Cooley�s plans for Cardinal Mahony?

Slow Road to Rampart Justice

It just might be the LAPD reforms itself faster without outside help

The Untouchables

Lasting, sad lessons of Rampart

The Sky is Falling

Neat and Messy

Two guys who will police the police

The Kalish Factor

What will come of the LAPD�s gay initiatives?

I Could Be a Voice for the Other L.A.

Web exclusive: the L.A. Weekly�s interview with Antonio Villaraigosa, candidate for the 14th Los Angeles City Council District

Streets, Sweet, Streets

The battle over the future of L.A.�s Skid Row

Pot Shots