Police Academy

When it comes to gun policies, the city of Los Angeles and the National Rifle Assn. could hardly be farther apart. Los Angeles passed one of the nation's first assault weapons bans and has pushed other measures opposing the proliferation of firearms, while the NRA tirelessly defends the right to bear arms.

Abdel-Halim Moussa, 73, a former Egyptian interior minister who advocated a conciliatory approach toward Islamic insurgents, died of cancer Saturday in a Cairo hospital. Moussa was interior minister from 1990 to 1993, when Islamic extremists were waging a violent campaign to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and replace his regime with strict Islamic rule. Moussa replaced Zaki Badr, who had advocated killing the radicals, which had only increased hostility between the militants and police.

U.S. military forces raided Iraq's national police academy Saturday, arresting the dean and 14 others as they conducted a meeting of Saddam Hussein's now-outlawed Baath Party, the top American law enforcement official here said. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who serves as the senior U.S.

Dan Devine tipped me that the police log of the Hollywood Independent said "a man was arrested after concealing $190 worth of items under his shirt at the police academy gift shop and attempting to leave without paying for them." Seems like an odd place to be shoplifting, Devine observed. Unclear on the concept: Connor Ferguson of Topanga and Brian Monahan of Venice had some cutting remarks about one store's definition of "free" (see photo). I know that City Hall moves slowly, but ...

The Police Department is taking applications for its next citizens academy through Tuesday. The 12-week program begins Thursday. The sessions run from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursdays and cover such topics as the department's canine unit, narcotics, gang enforcement, traffic and the SWAT team. The free class is limited to the first 25 to enroll. For more information or to enroll, call Sgt. Jim Seitz at 385-7763 or Sgt. Bernie Schmalhofer at 385-7632.

Brea Police Chief William C. Lentini was honored for his 31 years of service to the communities of Brea and Yorba Linda with a retirement party Friday night. During his tenure, Lentini began a bike patrol unit, opened a police substation downtown and initiated a citizens police academy that takes residents through the same types of training the city's uniformed officers undergo. Brea Mayor Marty Simonoff credited Lentini, 54, for maintaining a strong and harmonious police force.

Bullets fired in celebration, usually on New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July, have killed at least 40 people since 1985 in Los Angeles County. In recent years, however, a major publicity effort by city and county law enforcement agencies has helped reduce the carnage. The Los Angeles Police Department says gunfire reports on New Year's Eve in the city, for example, fell from 788 in 1992 to 500 last year.

Re "Oakland Police: Success Story or Scandal?" Dec. 3: We are sorry for Jervis Muwwakkil's loss. We, too, lost our son, a rookie Oakland police officer. He was helping other officers search a vehicle for drugs when a resident in a house shot him in the back with an assault rifle. He died two hours later. Our son's killer spent under two years awaiting trial and then was found not guilty of anything. Is this justice? We continually hear of the bad apples in police departments but never about the men and women who each day kiss their spouses and kids goodbye, never knowing if they will ever see them again.

A Citizens Police Academy to begin Wednesday will aim to give residents a better picture of what a law enforcement officer's workday is like. The city's first 10-week academy, with weekly Wednesday sessions, ended in June. Police community services specialist Maureen Becerra said there was enough interest to offer other sessions. The class is limited to 25 people who live, work or go to school in Fullerton. The police do background checks on applicants.