KPCC provides the most complete picture to date of how often and under what circumstances cops in L.A. County use deadly force and hurt or kill people; SeaWorld San Diego has announced that it’ll end its signature killer whales show by 2017; We get the latest from our KPCC reporter covering the Kelly Thomas civil trial, as well as some legal analysis.
Behind the scenes of KPCC’s ‘Officer Involved’ project
In a special analysis, KPCC has compiled the most complete picture to date of how often and under what circumstances cops in Los Angeles County (and, eventually, the Southern California region) use deadly force and hurt or kill people.
Despite the recent increase in witness videos, the details of most police shootings remain in investigative files. There is no meaningful, comprehensive public accounting of when officers use deadly force in California.
By reviewing prosecutor, coroner and state Department of Justice reports, KPCC is bringing to light factors the public never learns, but cares deeply about: how often those shot were unarmed, how many of them showed signs of mental illness or other impairments, where the deadly force occurred, what led the officers to think they were in danger.
We get the behind-the-scenes story from some of the project leaders.
Learn more here.
Officer Involved: A KPCC investigation
Introducing #OfficerInvolved, a KPCC investigation into police shootings in #LACounty. Explore the data at kpcc.org/officerinvolved. (Music credit: "Is That You or Are You You" by Chris Zabriskie)
Posted by KPCC on Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Guests:
Evelyn Larrubia, Interim Sr. Managing Editor for News, KPCC
Chris Keller, KPCC News Editor with a focus on data
SeaWorld San Diego to end killer whales show, but critics wonder if it’s enough
In the face of unrelenting public pressure, SeaWorld San Diego has announced that it’ll end its signature killer whales show by 2017.
What the theme park will introduce is a new kind of orca show, one that is less dependent on Shamu whales performing tricks. Instead, the relaunched show will be more “informative” and will place these whales in a more natural setting. No other details of the show have been released.
SeaWorld San Diego has been embroiled in a public relations nightmare since the release of the documentary, “Blackfish,” in 2013, which brought unprecedented public attention to what critics charge as the marine park’s inhumane treatment of orca whales in captivity.
Last month, the California Coastal Commission ruled to ban orca breeding at the San Diego theme park. SeaWorld San Diego is appealing the decision.
Guests:
Grey Stafford, PhD, Director of Conservation at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Phoenix, AZ. He is the incoming president of the International Marine Animal Trainer’s Association, which represents some 2,000 animal trainers around the world
Naomi Rose, PhD, Marine Mammal Scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, an animal rights organization based in DC
What to expect at today’s city council committee meeting on Mobility 2035 plan
Following a lawsuit filed by a local nonprofit, members of the L.A. City Council Planning and Land Use Management Committee are reconvening this afternoon to take a second look at the original Mobility Plan 2035, which seeks to reduce Angelenos’ reliance on cars over the next 20 years.
The plan was originally passed in August, but after the group Fix the City filed suit against the city arguing that they didn’t adequately examine the impact of removing car lanes on things like traffic and air quality, several council members decided they needed to revise and pass a new version of the plan.
Guests:
Eric Bruins, planning and policy director for the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition
Jay Beeber, executive director of Safer Streets L.A., and a research fellow with the Reason Foundation
Kelly Thomas wrongful death civil trial begins
What's expected to be a lengthy and emotional trial got underway Monday in the wrongful death lawsuit concerning the beating of Kelly Thomas at the hands of Fullerton police officers.
We get the latest from our KPCC reporter covering the trial, as well as some legal analysis.
Read the full story here.
Guests:
Erika Aguilar, KPCC reporter covering the Kelly Thomas trial
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and current Loyola Law professor
Can the UC accommodate 10K more students under proposal to increase in-state enrollment?
The UC regents are scheduled to vote next week on a proposal seeking to increase the number of in-state undergraduates at schools under the UC system.
The proposal was released yesterday, according to the Los Angeles Times. It plans to add 5,000 spots for in-state students by next fall, then 2,500 more in each the next two school years. By 2018, 10,000 new students from California would be enrolled at UC schools, including UCLA and UC Berkeley, two of the most competitive campuses in the system.
The UC has come under persistent criticism over the number of out-of-state and out-of-country undergraduates it accepts, which pay much much to attend these schools than students from California.
This week’s proposal aims to address that disparity, but would it work?
Guest:
Eric Kelderman, staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education covering state higher education policy
From coral reefs to atom bombs: The history and power of the Pacific Ocean
When looking out at the Pacific Ocean, it’s difficult to comprehend its power.
It's the world's oldest and most vast body of water, and creates much of earth's weather systems.
Beyond the Pacific's natural wonders it has also been a site of military battle, political tension and the separating factor between East and West.
Ecologically, the ocean is threatened by climate change, struggling wildlife and dying coral reefs.
Simon Winchester's book, "Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers," explores the ocean's global primacy. Winchester speaks with Larry Mantle today and the possibilities for the Pacific and how our actions could determine its effect on the future.
Simon Winchester will be at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library in Downtown tonight at 7:15p to talk about his book. Click here for more information.
Guest:
Simon Winchester, journalist and author of many books. His latest is “Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers” (Harper, 2015)