Los Angeles' top cop donated money to Equality California, an organization that is trying to stop Proposition 8, which seeks to ban same-sex marriage, from winning on the November ballot, according to the LA Times. "The Constitution guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Bratton said. "I see no reason why gays can't pursue happiness through marriage." The donation was a wedding gift for his friends, celebrity publicist Howard Bragman and Chuck O'Donnell (fun......

Photo by discarted via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Problem: Los Angeles has a shortage of officers for its population and physical size. Budgets are tight, hiring freezes keep the department from hiring new civilian workers, forcing sworn officers to desk work rather than being out on the streets. Bottom line: the city is short 3,000 police officers to where Chief William Bratton would like it to be. "I have watched three mayors try......

It seems the Valley isn't the place to be if you're a gang-affiliated criminal. One year ago, Mayor Villaraigosa held a press conference in North Hills at the LAPD's Mission Division, mapping out their plan for a crackdown on gangs. This past Thursday he returned, along with Police Chief William Bratton, to the same spot to announce that the plan had been successful. The Daily News reports on Mayor Tony's proud assertion, and 2007 statistics:......

Chief William Bratton has cut crime in New York City and now here. Other cities are trying to do what he does, but it doesn't always work. So how do we model the success? Manhattan Beach solidarity. A two-year veteran of the MBPD is undergoing cancer treatment. Fifty officers, firefighters and city employees shaved their head to support the officer who is going through chemotherapy and one hundred people donated O-negative blood specifically for......

Even Flat Stanley pays his Orange Line fare. The Daily News has an idea. We're not so much into it, but here is how it goes. While Metro contracts with LA County Sheriff's, the LAPD has a man who knows something about enforcing ticketless travelers on transit systems and he happens to be top cop Chief William Bratton. Some will remember that he became famous for his "broken windows" theory that enforced smaller crimes......

Could changes finally be coming to Sepulveda Boulevard after more than eight long years of debate? Who knew comic book fans could be so violent? Times reporter Geoff Boucher was attacked covering Comic-Con this past weekend. Sounds like a good idea: Hollywood residents are turning to birth control pills to control the pigeon population. Al Gore's son pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana and other drugs this morning. Seriously, you guys deserve it: members of......

Feel like returning to the scene of the crime with the Mayor of LA and help him protest his own police force? This evening at 5:30pm at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church at Wilshire Boulevard and Berendo Street there will be a short town hall meeting followed by a 10-block march to MacArthur Park where there will be a rally to denounce the LAPD behavior during the infamous Mayday Melee. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Assembly Speaker......

Geffen, Zell Reportedly Discuss LA Times Movie and music mogul David Geffen is negotiating with Sam Zell on a possible deal for the Los Angeles Times following Zell's successful bid for Tribune Co., a published report said Thursday. How much of the city is still trying to feign interest in this ongoing saga? LA gang members in country illegally may face quicker deportation City and county prosecutors say they are working more closely with......

As we discussed last week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C. today telling the rest of America why LA and its surrounding area is getting ripped off from federal investment. If we get jammed in traffic, we can't deliver for the rest of the U.S. Here are some facts: This delegation is part of the kick off of Access Washington, D.C. 2007, a trip sponsored by the L.A. Chamber and Mobility 21. Southern......

At last night's 10th Annual Los Angeles Political Roast, a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, there was more than just poking fun at the no-nonsense East Coast talking LAPD Chief - William Bratton. The LA Times did not get into it (LAObserved did), but there was a little tiff between Mayor Villaraigosa and District Attorney, Steve Cooley. The DA took a swing at the Mayor's supposed marriage situation and later while Mayor V......

"Declutter your bag. If you let the TSOs have a clear view of what's in the bag with your X-ray, you'll move right on through. That is something very easy to do as you pack your bag: leave the liquids at home, drink them, declutter your bag. And last, I'd say, enjoy your trip." Transportation Security Administration Chief Kip Hawley tried to put a smile on the enormous pain in the ass air travel......

"The state has so far received 74,108 applications for an allotment of 75,000 decals permitting hybrid owners to drive solo in HOV lanes." ~ L.A. Times Blogging.LA does the math on hate crimes in LA: "...for every one hate crime in San Diego and San Francisco counties combined, there were five in Los Angeles. By any explanation, that's a lot of hate." Pasadena goes WiFi. (via LA Voice) In city politics and news, fines......

Chief of Police, William Bratton, has been making headlines after a July 6th KTLA interview where he said that councilmen Dennis Zine (former police sergeant) and Bernard Parks (former Chief of police) didn't "know what the hell they're talking about" when both disagreed with Bratton's loosening of hiring standards when it comes to drug use in the "distant past." LAist asks you: Does it matter to you that there are some police officers in......

The LA Times held its first publisher's forum last night with an impressive panel gathered to discuss homelessness. LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, Sheriff Lee Baca, Bobby Shriver (Mayor pro tem of Santa Monica), LAPD Chief William Bratton, Lamp Community head Casey Horan and Dr. Marvin Southard, Director of the LA County Department of Mental Health sat in directors chairs as LA Times Editorial Page Editor Andrés Martinez moderated. That's Martinez in the picture.......

There's a cynical news saying: If it bleeds, it leads. Well, there was lots of blood in the news yesterday and the stories aren't going anywhere. In case you need to catch up: Up in Goleta yesterday, 44-year old Jennifer Sanmarco walked into a postal processing plant where she'd once worked. She shot and killed 5, seriously injured one and then committed suicide. This morning there are reports that an ex-neigbor of Sanmarco's has......

If you're running south to avoid the La Canada-Flintridge fire, we reccomend that you don't run too far south, since Compton looks like it's about to become the Murder Capital of America. Last night on The West Wing, SoCal residents found themselves running for their lives, but not knowing which way to run. While LA isn't about to have radioactive steam vented into the atmosphere (it's bad enough already, thank you very much), the......

UCLA Film and Television Archive's tribute to filmmaker Don Siegel continues this weekend with a screening of "Madigan" and "Private Hell 36" on Saturday, August 7, 2005. LAPD Chief William Bratton will be on hand to introduce these two police procedurals and testify to their versimillitude. We wonder if he'll make the connection between "Madigan's" tale of a cop on the edge searching for a gun lost during an unauthorized raid and Officer Jim......

LA has a crime problem. Or, rather, LA has an endemic gang problem, and gangsters breed crime. It was true in Prohibition-era Chicago, and it's certainly true in current-day Los Angeles. Sometimes it seems that gangs operate with near impunity in LA, a condition which has led to an unbearable homicide rate in some areas of our city, with each murder of an innocent seemingly more callous and brutal than the last. The LAPD......

It looks like traffic cameras for busy intersections are only the beginning: Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said he is so impressed with results from MacArthur Park -- once known as a flourishing crime zone in the city's center -- that he believes the cameras are an essential part of fighting crime in an era of dwindling budgets and strained police personnel. "Basically, what you can do is virtual policing," said LAPD Assistant Chief......