LAPD Blog

LAPD’s 10th annual Angels Community Book and Toy Drive

Podcast for crime stats

Podcast for 6th/union shooting

Thursday, December 9, 2024 - Chief Charlie Beck and Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger launched the 10th annual “Angels Community Book and Toy Drive” at the 10th Street Elementary School located at 1000 Grattan Street in Los Angeles.  Principal Linda K. Ariyasu along with 10th Street Elementary students welcomed the two Chief’s to their school.

  Chief Beck asked for people to donate books and toys to any of the 21 police stations.  These gifts will be given to children from low income families in efforts to make their Christmas a happier time.  During the holiday season many organizations ask for the donation of toys. The LAPD differs in that it asks for books.  A book does not have to be unwrapped for it to be new to a child.  Chief Beck asks that people write a message of inspiration to a child inside the book.

This event was Chief Beck’s monthly media availability where he provided current crime statistics and an update on the 6^th and Union Street shooting.  Chief Beck’s biggest smile came from all the children seated by him. 

Invited to speak was Sergeant Darren Holst who held his 7^th annual Motors4Toys Charity Tour drive on Sunday December 5.  Last year this event, which brings the motor sport community together for the holidays, collected 25,000 toys.  The toys from this year’s event will be collected by the Senior Lead Officers to help make the children in their areas more memorable. 

Officer Michael Scott from the LAPD Centurion Baseball Team invited the public to the 7^th annual San Fernando Valley Christmas Celebration on December 18, 2010.  Officers from the LAPD Mission Division and LAPD baseball team have partnered with Project Living Hope, several Motorcycle Clubs, and hundreds of volunteers and sponsors to help bring toys, food and entertainment to support needy children and families in the San Fernando Valley Area.  This event is free to the public.  You can visit their website at www.sanfernadotoygiveaway.com for further information.

A very special thank you to children’s author, teacher and LAPD Police Academy magnet coordinator Alise Cayen for donating to the school’s library copies of her book, Patty Pom-Poms. Patty Pom Poms is an inspirational book about a young girl who works hard to achieve her goals. The LAPD wants to thank the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation for their very kind donation of books to the students of 10th Street Elementary School and putting smiles on the faces of the children.

 

89.3KPCC/Southern California Public Radio will air the community forum “Beck and Baca – Law and Order in the Southland.”

UPDATE:

The podcast of “Beck and Baca – Law and Order in the Southland” has been posted on the website of 89.3KPCC/Southern California Public Radio.  To listen to the podcast please click on the link below or copy and paste URL address provided into the navigation toolbar. 

http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2010/12/10/beck-and-baca-law-and-order-in-the-southland/

 Friday, December 10, 2024 – Today at 2:00 p.m. 89.3KPCC/Southern California Public Radio will air the community forum “Beck and Baca – Law and Order in the Southland.”  Radio host Patt Morrison is the moderator for the discussion with Chief Beck and Sheriff Baca, which includes questions from the audience. This is the first time Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca have been brought together to speak in a public forum to discuss the important issues, challenges, and demands they each face being the leader of a major law enforcement agency in Southern California.

The forum was taped Wednesday night in front of a public audience in the Crawford Family Forum at the KPCC studios in Pasadena.  People in attendance were treated to static displays from both agencies: LAPD’s K-9 unit, iWatch, Lock it, Hide it, Keep it programs and LASD Crime Stoppers, Team Sheriff Racing and the Sheriff’s bike safety program, BEAR.

Patt introduces the two law enforcement leaders and mentions surprising facts. Between both Chief Beck and Sheriff Baca they lead 20,000 officers, patrol 4,000 square miles and are responsible for the safety of 10 million residents.

The Chief and the Sheriff are first asked about their philosophy of policing, sharing their thoughts that 21^st  century policing is not entirely about technology, and discuss the myths about policing.  Both law enforcement leaders discuss the importance of the roles and contributions of people to public safety, maximizing the efforts of each uniformed officer, their views on recidivism and what is the most common complaint they hear from police officers in doing their job.  Patt also asks about the impact of budget cuts to each law enforcement agency and what it means for the men and women in law enforcement in their efforts to keep the public safe.

KPCC invites listeners to visit their website http://www.scpr.org and participate in a live web chat, allowing people to share their comments and read other people’s posts in real time as they listen to the ‘live on tape’ forum.

Chief Beck sits down with Patt Morrison each month for a live Q&A with listeners.  KPCC also hosted a community forum with Chief Beck last December at the Ronald F. Deaton Auditorium.

 

Suspect Sought in Home Invasion Robbery

Los Angeles:  Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Area detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect who robbed a woman in her home.  

On December 6, 2010, at around 11:15 p.m., the victim returned to her home located in the 8100 block of Westlawn Avenue, in the Westchester area of Los Angeles.  As she rested on her couch, a male suspect confronted her at gunpoint.  When the victim began to scream, the suspect grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor.  The suspect then fired one round from his handgun towards the victim.  Alerted by the sound of gunfire and the victim’s screams, her husband entered the room, distracted the suspect allowing the victim to run outside and call for help.

The suspect is described as a White male, with blue eyes, stands 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall,  weighs 170-185 pounds, about 18-25 years old.  The suspect was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, and a ski mask with cut-outs for the eyes and mouth.  The suspect left the location in a large, 2000-2004, American-made sedan.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Pacific Area Detectives at
310-482-6396.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to
1-877-LAPD-24-7.  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at
1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.

Notes from the December 7, 2024 Weekly Police Commission Meeting

•    Police Commission Vice President Alan Skobin attended and spoke at the Department’s recruit graduation on how important it is to keep in mind the courtesy and respect they are expected to have and the importance to explain to people, when they are stopped the reason why it was done.

•    Police Chief Charlie Beck informed the Board the Department continues to maintain crime reduction numbers, homicide is down 7.7% and gang crime 11.2% year to date.  Over all Part I crime reduction from 2009 is 7.3%, and 14.1% from 2008. The Department currently has 9,936 sworn officers, and 2,871 civilians.

•    The Inspector General’s Report, dated December 1, 2010, relative to Supplemental Review of Biased Policing Complaint Investigation, as given by Inspector General Nicole Bershon, was approved. Ms. Bershon informed the Board the purpose of the report is to determine whether civilian oversight is working not whether the Department is at 100% in compliance. The report looked at the quality of the underlying investigations, including adjudication, which was only 50% of the report. Other areas of concern were Complaint Intake. This portion of the report reviewed where things might have gone wrong during the investigation and whether comments made at the scene by an officer, regardless of the intent may have contributed to the complainant’s perception they were victim of bias policing.

•    The Department’s Report, dated December 2, 2010, relative to Supplemental Review of Biased Policing Complaint Investigations, as given by the Department’s Command Staff was approved. Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger noted the most important element of addressing the issues is to ensure the Department has a pristine intake process. Upon receipt of any complaint which has an element of Biased Policing, the complaint invokes the immediate notification to the Patrol Commanding Officer. This notification also requires the Lieutenant Watch Commander from the Area to give his guidance at the initial intake process.  The Office of Operations will also review every single Biased Policing complaint at its inception.  Assistant Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur addressed the four main components the Department has reviewed; Intake and Interview Process, Improve Training for supervisor in general by bringing them back for Internal Affairs School,  Community Perception, and Post Complaint from the community perspective and for Department employees.

•    Received verbal presentation from Harbor Division Community Advisory Board (C-PAB), Captain Hayes, Sergeant Catherine Plows, and Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino. Captain Hayes informed the Commission Harbor Area currently has three
C-PAB’s, regular C-PAB, Spanish and Teen C-PAB. Spanish C-PAB has been very        instrumental with the Hispanic community in the Wilmington Area. Teen C-PAB addressed teen related issues such as gang prevention, character building and social issues. Sergeant Plows stated one of the issues Harbor Area currently faces is vandalism. The issue is being addressed by conducting task forces near local high schools. So far three task forces have been conducted and with help from residents 12 taggers have been apprehended.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 23, 2010, relative to Second Amendment to Professional Services Agreement Contract No. C-110674 with Kennedy Court Reporters, Inc., for Court Reporter Services was approved and transmitted to the Mayor.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 18, 2010, relative to Transmittal of the 2010-2011 Sobriety Checkpoint Mini-Grant Program Application from the California Office of Traffic Safety was approved and transmitted to the Mayor and City Council.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 18, 2010, relative to Supplemental Police Account Third Quarterly Report (July through September 2010), was approved and transmitted to the City Council and the Office of the City Controller.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 9, 2010, relative to Destruction of Obsolete Duplicate Records, was approved and transmitted to the City Clerk, Records Management Officer.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 18, 2010, relative to Destruction of Obsolete Original Records, was approved and transmitted to the City Clerk, Records Management Officer.

•    Received and approved the Departments report, dated November 19, 2010, relative to DNA Monthly Report for October 2010, from Robbery Homicide Division (RHD), Captain Kevin Mc Clure, and Scientific Investigations Division (SID), Yvette Sanchez-Owens. Captain Mc Clure said the Department in a joint work effort between the RHD, Property Division and SID has done a remarkable job in reducing the DNA backlog, and tracking all sexual assault kits. For the October report all backlog kits are currently in process. With new technology the Department is able to go back and review 107 older cases which were not able to get a DNA profile in the past.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 23, 2010, relative to Transmittal of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program Grant Award, was approved and transmitted concurrently to the Mayor and City Council.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 22, 2010, relative to Employee’s Duty to Cooperate with Investigations relating to Civil Litigation against the City of Los Angeles or the Department, was approved.

•    The Executive Director’s Report, dated December 1, 2010, relative to Official Police Garage Towing & Storage Rates 2011- Posting Completed, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated December 3, 2010, relative to transmittal of the Supplemental Award and Budget Modification for the 2010 Law Enforcement Specialized Units Program (LESUP) Grant from the State, California Emergency Management Agency, was approved and transmitted to the Mayor and City Council.

Top Gun

Los Angeles: Friday, December 3, 2024 – LAPD’s finest welcomed 22 new police officers to their family. 17 men and 5 women marched across the academy lawn to accept their long awaited police certificates.   

At each graduation several awards are presented to honor individual recruit officers for being the top performers in specific categories. The categories include physical conditioning, self defense, academics, weapon proficiency, driving, report writing, human relations and tactical performance.  The highest award presented is the William H. Parker Award that recognizes overall excellence and is awarded to the number one overall recruit officer.  

After six months of rigorous training and multiple exams, Officer Anson Bustamante was presented with the prestigious William H. Parker award as his father, retired LAPD detective Ricardo Bustamante, stood by his side.

Within a day, the new officers will put the training they received into action as they protect and serve the Angelinos of Los Angeles. 

Chief William H. Parker led the Department for 16 years.  After his death in 1966, a foundation was created in his honor to provide educational grants and equipment to the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department. 

 

Downtown Produce Market Murder Suspects Identified

UPDATE:    

Over the last 48 hours, Newton Homicide Detectives have investigated numerous leads garnered by the news media coverage about the death of Mr. White.

Today Newton Homicide Detectives with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal Services Fugitive Task Force unit, followed information received from news generated tips to the Hollywood area, where both Garcia’s were seen.  After several hours of investigation and surveillance, both Garcia’s were taken into custody without incident at a vacant building located on the 1600 block of La Brea.

Los Angeles:  Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD), Newton Area detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating two suspects who may be responsible for a homicide in a downtown produce market area.

On November 29, 2010, at about 9:30 a.m., LAPD Newton Area patrol officers responded to a radio call of a possible dead body in a hotel room located at 800 E. 7th Street.  Once at the location, officers found the dismembered remains of an unknown person in the room.

Newton Homicide detectives determined the remains to be of a male African American,later identified 49-year-old Herbert Tracy White of Hollywood.

As detectives conducted the investigation, they discovered that the suspects attempted to clean up the scene and remove the body prior to leaving the location. Several body parts were inside of a backpack with the remainder of White’s remains wrapped in blankets.

Detectives later identified the suspects as 36-year-old Edward Garcia Jr. and his wife, 25-year-old Melissa Hope Garcia. Both suspects are from Pennsylvania and believed to be in the Hollywood area or heading back to Pennsylvania.

On December 6, 2010, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant for both Edward and Melissa Garcia, charging them with one count of murder.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Los Angeles Police Department Newton Homicide Detectives Arciniega or Benavides at 323-846-6556.During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.

LAUSD Teacher Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography Detectives Seek Possible Additional Victims

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is asking for the public’s help in identifying possible sexual abuse victims of Silvestre Ela, a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Teacher.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010, the LAPD Juvenile Division’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit personnel served a search warrant on the 1100 block of Dimondale Street in Carson, Calif.  Fifty-three-year-old Ela was at the location when the warrant was served, and he admitted to viewing and downloading images of child pornography.  However, he denied ever victimizing any children.  

The investigation revealed that Ela was a fifth-grade teacher at LAUSD’s Dominguez Elementary School.  Several computers and DVDs with photos of possible victims were taken into custody, and he was arrested for possession of child pornography.  

As part of the investigation, detectives are conducting forensic examinations to determine if the suspect had manufactured any of the child pornography images stored in his computer.  In addition, investigators are conducting follow-ups to possibly identify any children with whom the suspect may have had inappropriate contact.  

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of possession of child pornography and one count of child pornography distribution against Ela, who posted bail the day he was arrested.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information about this suspect or the existence of additional victims is asked to contact LAPD ICAC detectives at 562-624-4027.  During non-business hours, please call 1-877-LAPD-24-7.  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may contact Crimestoppers by texting the number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Responds To Inspector General Report On Biased Policing

Los Angeles: The Office of the Inspector General has issued a public report on Biased Policing investigations conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Internal Affairs Group (IAG), Professional Standards Bureau. The report focuses on ten biased policing investigations initiated from 2008-2010, conducted by the Department’s Constitutional Policing Unit.

It is the Department’s goal to not only improve the quality of the investigative process but also to reduce the number of biased policing complaints. The ultimate goal would be to have none.  The Department agrees with the Inspector General’s assessment that the Department and the OIG are committed to enhancing the quality of biased policing investigations. Constitutional policing is my top priority

So far this year, LAPD officers have had over three million contacts with the public, which has resulted in approximately 200 biased policing complaints. We appreciate that the Inspector General recognizes in her report that “Biased Policing/Racial Profiling complaints represented four percent of all complaints closed by the Department in 2009, in a year in which Department employees made 194,674 arrests, issued 581,307 citations, and in which the Department’s Communication Division responded to 789,366 calls. We believe that such numbers demonstrate that the large majority of the almost 10,000 sworn LAPD Officers are performing their job in a professional manner.”

The Department has a substantial number of resources dedicated to the improvement of the investigation and adjudication of biased policing complaints. Mr. Gerry Chaleff, a former Police Commissioner was appointed to the position of Special Assistant of Constitutional Policing, a direct report to the Chief of Police. A newly created Constitutional Policing Unit has been added to Internal Affairs Group, which is responsible for each and every biased policing complaint. The Department’s dedication to enhance investigations also includes a revision of investigative reports, refinement of biased policing protocols, enactment of a more thorough review process, training sessions for Department personnel and frequent interaction with the Office of the Inspector General. On average, the Department’s IAG spends approximately 90-hours investigating and adjudicating each biased policing complaint.

The Department recognizes the importance of the Inspector General’s report and its role in working with the Department to continually improve our methods of investigation and adjudication.

To find a copy of the Inspector General’s report and the Department’s response, go to LAPDOnline.org. Go to “Police Commission” on the left navigation column. Click on "Police Commission," and scroll down to Meeting Agenda. Click on December 7, 2010. Under Regular Agenda Items, click on item number BPC#10-0465 for the Inspector General report. The Department’s response can be found by clicking on BPC#10-0468.