Los Angeles Police Commission

Melanie E. Lomax, a longtime civil rights lawyer and former head of the Los Angeles Police Commission, was killed late Sunday in a single-car accident near her Hollywood Hills home, police said Monday. Lomax, 56, was declared dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was taken by paramedics after the 2005 Jaguar she was driving rolled down her driveway and tumbled 20 feet down a steep embankment. Police sources said Lomax may have had a heart attack.

The Los Angeles Police Commission met for three hours Tuesday in a closed-door session with Chief William J. Bratton as part of his annual performance evaluation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, meanwhile, voiced confidence in the chief but asked the panel to judge Bratton based on whether he continues to reduce crime, increase the police force and comply with a consent decree mandating reforms. Emerging from the meeting, Bratton smiled and told reporters, "I think we did OK."

The Los Angeles Police Commission voted Tuesday to approve an ambitious plan for expanding the Los Angeles Police Department and to request $14.9 million to begin implementing it. The plan, which was unveiled last month by Mayor Richard Riordan, calls for expanding the LAPD by 2,855 officers during the next five years. It also proposes beefing up the department's street presence by hiring more civilians to free up officers and by paying officers to work overtime and on their days off.

Developer Rick Caruso said Friday that he had turned down Mayor Richard Riordan's request to take Gerald Chaleff's place on the Los Angeles Police Commission. Caruso said he was "deeply honored" that the mayor asked him to serve on the civilian oversight panel, but wants to continue his work on the city's Department of Water and Power commission. "I feel compelled to remain on the board to help craft a statewide solution to our energy crisis," Caruso said.