Lapd

Los Angeles police will not pursue through the courts scores of motorists with unpaid tickets from the city's defunct red-light camera program. The city Police Commission voted this week to end its contract with the company that operated L.A.'s cameras until they were shut off last summer. And authorities are now planning to reassign a small group of officers who regularly appeared in court to testify in contested photo enforcement cases. With the cancellation of the contract, officers will no longer have easy access to the photo and video evidence that courts require.

The federal judge who oversaw a dramatic, forced transformation of the Los Angeles Police Department has freed the department from the final vestiges of federal oversight. In a brief, three-line order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gary Feess formally lifted the binding agreement the U.S. Department of Justice imposed on the LAPD in 2001, which spelled out dozens of major reforms the police agency had to implement and frequent audits it was required to undergo by a monitor who reported to Feess.

There's no place in Torrance more thick with thieves than the Del Amo Fashion Center, the city's largest mall. But you wouldn't know that if you looked at the crime map published on the city's website. Launched last year, the city's map promised to use cutting-edge technology to notify residents of the latest crimes in their community. But a Times review has found that the Torrance Police Department deliberately withholds information on hundreds of crimes across the city, including some of the most serious.

Four people who provided crucial information in the hunt for former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Dorner will split what is expected to be a $1-million reward in the case, authorities announced Tuesday afternoon. The division of the highly anticipated reward, sought by at least 12 people after a February gun battle that led to Dorner's death, was overseen by three retired judges and made public in a 12-page report released by the Los Angeles Police Department. The money will be paid in installments to a couple held captive by Dorner, a ski resort employee and a tow truck driver.

A federal court jury Monday rejected the claims of a veteran Los Angeles police lieutenant who said he was retaliated against by his superiors after uncovering evidence that undermined a decades-old murder investigation conducted by a colleague in the LAPD. Lt. Jim Gavin alleged that he and his police officer wife, Carol, were subjected to a campaign of harassment following his work in the case of Bruce Lisker, who was convicted of killing his mother in 1985 and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.

The Los Angeles Police Department opened an internal investigation into its response at an off-campus house party near USC amid complaints from some students that the department showed racial bias and used heavy-handed tactics. The incident occurred early Saturday morning during an end-of-semester party at a house a few blocks from campus. A neighbor called police complaining about the noise. Officers arrived, and the situation escalated with the arrival of dozens more officers donning riot gear.

In the wake of Christopher Dorner's claim that his firing from the Los Angeles Police Department was a result of corruption and bias, more than three dozen other fired LAPD cops want department officials to review their cases. The 40 requests, which were tallied by the union that represents rank-and-file officers, have come in the two months since Dorner sought revenge for his 2009 firing by targeting police officers and their families in a killing rampage that left four dead and others injured.

The Los Angeles Police Department says it's trying to get tough on crank callers who "swat" the homes of celebrities. The most recent example came Thursday when singer Rihanna's home was swatted. LAPD sources said the department has trained dispatchers to help identify when a crank caller reports violence at the homes of celebrities. Police have complained that the calls divert resources from responding to real crimes. As a result, the LAPD is sending fewer units to check out incidents they believe are fake, the sources said.

David Perdue was on his way to sneak in some surfing before work Thursday morning when police flagged him down. They asked who he was and where he was headed, then sent him on his way. Seconds later, Perdue's attorney said, a Torrance police cruiser slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire; none of the bullets struck Perdue. His pickup, police later explained, matched the description of the one belonging to Christopher Jordan Dorner - the ex-cop who has evaded authorities after allegedly killing three and wounding two more.

The federal judge who oversaw a dramatic, forced transformation of the Los Angeles Police Department has freed the department from the final vestiges of federal oversight. In a brief, three-line order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gary Feess formally lifted the binding agreement the U.S. Department of Justice imposed on the LAPD in 2001, which spelled out dozens of major reforms the police agency had to implement and frequent audits it was required to undergo by a monitor who reported to Feess.

Privacy rights groups on Monday filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County's two major law enforcement agencies after they refused to turn over information collected by electronic license plate scanners, the suit claimed. The Los Angeles Police Department and L.A. County Sheriff's Department have made use of the plate-reading technology for several years. Typically mounted on patrol vehicles, the small cameras continuously scan license plates and check them against criminal databases in search of stolen cars and cars registered to known fugitives.

The Los Angeles Police Department opened an internal investigation into its response at an off-campus house party near USC amid complaints from some students that the department showed racial bias and used heavy-handed tactics. The incident occurred early Saturday morning during an end-of-semester party at a house a few blocks from campus. A neighbor called police complaining about the noise. Officers arrived, and the situation escalated with the arrival of dozens more officers donning riot gear.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has reassigned three of his deputies, including the head of the department's internal affairs division, in a shake-up the chief said is meant to usher in "fresh perspectives. " The most notable of the moves will see Deputy Chief Mark Perez, who has run internal affairs for several years and oversaw a dramatic shift in how the department handles discipline, be replaced by another deputy chief, Debra McCarthy. McCarthy, 52, currently commands the department's West Bureau, which includes police stations in Venice, West L.A. and Hollywood.

Los Angeles police officer Brett Goodkin is about to make his big-screen debut, playing a bit role as a cop in "The Bling Ring," Sofia Coppola's movie about fame-obsessed San Fernando Valley youths who burgled the homes of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. But as the director prepares to unveil the picture at the Cannes Film Festival, the LAPD investigator is hardly basking in the glory of his 15 minutes of fame. Instead, he's facing the imminent prospect of losing his job, as a disciplinary panel prepares to rule on the results of an internal investigation into his simultaneous involvement in the real-life case and the film.

In the wake of Christopher Dorner's claim that his firing from the Los Angeles Police Department was a result of corruption and bias, more than three dozen other fired LAPD cops want department officials to review their cases. The 40 requests, which were tallied by the union that represents rank-and-file officers, have come in the two months since Dorner sought revenge for his 2009 firing by targeting police officers and their families in a killing rampage that left four dead and others injured.

In 1989, then-Los Angeles Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky unveiled an audacious plan to boost the city police force by more than 25% to 10,000 officers. He couldn't have imagined that city leaders would chase that goal for nearly a quarter of a century until, at the start of this year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that he had pushed the LAPD over the long-elusive benchmark. The two candidates vying to replace Villaraigosa in the May 21 election - City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti - have embraced the mayor's achievement, crediting the LAPD buildup in large measure for the city's lowest crime rates since the 1950s.

LAPD--Los Angeles' most dysfunctional family. KENT DEL ROSSO Culver City

Traditionally, working folk dreamed of retiring to California to grow citrus, or more recently wine grapes, but these days the second career crop of choice appears to be artisanal olive oil. Fresh, local oil is all the rage; universities and industry groups help guide aspiring growers, and once their groves start bearing, many sell at farmers markets, where they earn premium prices and enjoy schmoozing with shoppers. Mark Mooring of Buon Gusto Farms followed an unusual version of this path, from starting the Los Angeles Police Department K-9 Platoon to growing olives in Ventura, where he produces richly flavored, award-winning oils.

Re "Women shot in Dorner hunt to get $4.2 million," April 24 On Feb. 7, staked out in force to protect one of their own, Los Angeles Police Department officers mistook a blue Toyota for a gray Nissan truck and opened fire, riddling it and the neighborhood with bullets. They discovered the truck was being driven very slowly by two women delivering the morning newspaper. Thank heavens the officers' apparently poor marksmanship prevented them from killing the pair, who escaped with manageable injuries and are now being compensated in one of the speedier multimillion-dollar settlements in memory.