Zach Behrens

Photos: gabeshedd/LAist Featured Photos The city budget crisis continues to potentially affect the LAPD. One idea, in order to keep officers on the street handling critical situations, is to stop some services like having officers respond to damage-only vehicle collisions, nighttime front desk officers and timely police reports. "In the end, the way the public will feel it, there will be some reduced 'nice-to-have' services by the Los Angeles Police Department,'' Chief Charlie Beck...

Photo by Open Air Control Testing Ground via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr After a lower-than-expected attrition rate, it looks like LAPD will be unexpectedly beefing up its ranks by 22 more officers than planned for, according to the LA Times. Even with those extra numbers on the force, the goal of 9,963 sworn officers is still slightly lower than Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's goal of 10,000 officers. Still, a budget panel of city councilmembers...

Photo by nicadlr via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Today is election day for the 43rd Assembly District, which spans from the East Valley and into Silver Lake (.pdf map). It's a special election because the seat was vacated by the now-L.A. City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen has gotten all nerdy this election day and is offering some trivia. “Special elections are not as rare as they used to...

Services for the fallen LAPD SWAT member Robert J. Cottle, who died in Afghanistan, are being held this morning in downtown. Thousands are expected to turn up and traffic will get a bit turned around this morning. Streets are already closed for the 8:45 a.m. procession from the LAPD headquarters to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. A 9:30 a.m. a private service will commence inside. Cottle is the first LAPD officer...

Photo: sfxeric/LAist Featured Photos The L.A. Department of Water and Power today are applauding Angelenos for record breaking water use. In February, customers used water equivalent to the amount used in 1979. “Our customers’ ability to reach 1970s water use levels at a time when our City’s population has grown by more than a million people is truly remarkable,” said Lee Kanon Alpert, President of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. For the...

We tried ignoring all the hoopla on Twitter yesterday, but apparently we can't. The internet has been atwitter about a major earthquake striking in the next few days. Sure, that's a possibility, just like it's a possibility every day of the year. The fact is, earthquakes cannot be predicted--at least with this much advance notice--despite what Twitter says. What's true is that there has been more earthquake this year and scientists have yet to...

Photo by the the_toe_stubber via Flickr Today apparently is Ocean Oscars day for the The Nature Conservancy. The behemoth environmental organization has been working with partners to preserve California State Beaches for over 50 years and today honored their favorite spots. Only one L.A. County beach made the list and that was Will Rogers State Beach for Best Swimming. They call it "one of the nicest beaches in California to take a dip in...

A 63-year-old man has been arrested in connection with seven sexual battery incidents at UCLA. Calixto Marcellana Nitro, 63, of Bakersfield was taken into custody last night after police said they observed him about to attack another victim. In all the cases, he allegedly would approach women, usually distracted talking on their cell phones, and grab their crotches. Eeek! The first incident was on March 8th, continuing through April 7th. It was around 6:20...

Photo by yosoyjulito via Flickr The California Department of Public Health this morning announced that seven hospitals in California have been assessed with administrative penalties after it was determined that the facilities’ noncompliance with licensing requirements caused, or was likely caused, serious injury or death to patients. Five of them were in Southern California. No hospitals were in L.A. County, but they were in surrounding ones. The Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana was fined...

Photo: J.Rossier Photography via LAist Featured Photos As the insurance behemoth bankrolls Prop 17 on the June ballot, the company is finding their way into the news by another another route. "An examination done by the Department of Insurance appears to show that Mercury Insurance has disregarded California's consumer protection statutes and overcharged consumers," Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said yesterday. "In addition, the Department's examination finds that Mercury Insurance has apparently continued to violate...

Good times hiking in Griffith Park | Photo by current events via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Is bankruptcy L.A.'s best option? The chemical DDT has reared its ugly head again in Torrance. An arrest has been made in the case where a Ventura County couple was stabbed to death. A peek inside downtown's new First & Hope Supper Club. Four of the five dead in this morning's crash on the 5 freeway were...

Photo: SKD's LA Street Scenes/LAist Featured Photos The city continues to take a beating regarding the budget and how it affects the police department. An LA Times article today looks into homicide detectives and how they can't work overtime. Detective Sal LaBarbera, a 24-year homicide veteran that supervises the Southeast Division's Homicide Squad, gives this zinger about nine of the 14 murders in his area remaining unsolved: That is horrible compared to our typical...