Posts Tagged “los angeles county jail”

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department were both recognized by the National Law Enforcement Challenge for the department’s safety strategy, it was announced Saturday.

The sheriff’s office finished first in its category, and LAPD tied for first with San Francisco Police, the sheriff’s office announced.

“Saving lives, reducing injuries, traffic collisions and property damage through innovative strategies is important work,” said Sheriff Lee Baca. “The dedicated men and woman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department appreciate the recognition that comes with this award and will continue to work hard to make the streets safer.”

A three-year study of traffic safety effectiveness in the department’s jurisdiction was part of the department’s submission in the competition.

The department placed first among three agencies its size — more than 1,000 deputies — competing for the award. Hillsborough County, FL placed second and San Diego County placed third.

The City of Los Angeles tied for first place with San Francisco for municipalities of its size — more than 1,250 officers.

More than 530 agencies overall competed for awards.

The annual NLEC is sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to promote traffic safety and public recognition of exemplary traffic safety programs.

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Associated Press

From AP

LOS ANGELES — Police are looking for a woman who left a 3-year-old boy alone at a South Los Angeles bus stop.

The little boy played with a purple stuffed frog, squealed and squirmed in the arms of a police officer during a press conference today.

Captain Robert Green says a witness saw the woman waiting for a bus with the boy sleeping in her lap at about 1 a.m. Friday. When the bus arrived, she got on and left the boy behind.

The witness stayed with the boy for an hour and finally took him to a police station.

Green says the boy was taken to a hospital and was determined to be in good condition.

Green says the woman could be charged with child endangerment.

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Contra Costa Times
By Rick Orlov Staff Writer
Posted: 10/09/2009 07:35:56 PM PDT
Updated: 10/09/2009 11:06:44 PM PDT

While District Attorney Steve Cooley wants to charge ahead with a get-tough campaign against medical marijuana dispensaries, Los Angeles police said they are waiting for a definitive city policy regulating the businesses before stepping up their efforts against rogue operators.

Capt. Kevin McCarthy, commanding officer of the LAPD’s gang and narcotics division, said that without a new city ordinance – which has been in the works for more than a year – officers cannot act against many of the clinics.

“We have been getting complaints from neighborhood councils and others and we log them and try to deal with them on a case-by-case basis,” McCarthy said.

“I think the district attorney made clear where he wants to go,” McCarthy said. “The city attorney and Sheriff Lee Baca are on board with him. The bottom line is we want to make sure people who need it have safe access.

“But we don’t want to see situations develop where there are other problems.”

In a radio interview on KABC-AM (790), Cooley reiterated his plan to close down many of the 800 to 900 medical marijuana shops believed to be operating in the city of Los Angeles.

“We will give them fair notice and, hopefully, they will see the light and voluntarily close down,” Cooley said. “We are going to uphold the laws of California.”

Local law enforcement has faced a dilemma as the City Council debates what to do about controlling the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.

A moratorium on opening new shops expires in March and officials hope to have a new ordinance in place by then with detailed requirements on the shops and their allowed locations.

“None of us have a problem with the legitimate collectives,” said Councilman Dennis Zine, who has taken the lead on the issue. “The problem is with all these for-profit places that open up all over and who give out marijuana to everyone.”

Cooley and other officials say that in addition to selling to minors and others who do not use the drug for medical purposes, some of the dispensaries sell marijuana laced heavily with insecticides that endanger users even as they help finance Mexican drug cartels.

Councilman Greig Smith, who chairs the Public Safety Committee where the measure is pending, said he hopes to have action within the next two weeks.

Attorney Joe Elford, who has represented clinics, said he believes as long as the clinics follow the guidelines of the state Attorney General’s Office, they should be allowed to operate.

“We support reasonable regulations – such as there are too many in one area or the like – but for the district attorney to come right out and say all sales of marijuana is illegal (conflicts) with state law and what the voters have approved,” Elford said.

While the lack of an ordinance has partially tied the hands of the LAPD, McCarthy said officers have been able to go after brazen operators. For example, they took action against one shop that distributed fliers on the cars of students at a high school.

Councilman Paul Koretz, who wrote the state law implementing medical marijuana use, said he believes Cooley’s approach goes too far.

“All of us want to do something to make sure there are controls,” Koretz said. “I certainly never envisioned Los Angeles having more than 800 clinics. But I think the direction he is going is too far to try to eliminate all medical marijuana.

“It is clear they are out of hand, but the city is trying to deal with it.”

rick.orlov@dailynews.com

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