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Two days after being arrested in Los Angeles on March 26, 2012, Bobby Brown faces two DUI-related counts and another charge that he was driving on a suspended license. Allegedly, the R&B singer had a blood alcohol level of more than .08, which is the level at which is presumed to be driving under the influence. The singer was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol for driving unsafely and talking on a cell phone without a hands-free unit. The officer suspected the singer was impaired and later on Brown failed the field sobriety test. If convicted, he will face… Read More

A former city manager, his assistant, the city’s mayor, and a city councilman from Bell have been ordered to stand trial on a variety of charges related to taking public funds, according to My Fox LA. The individuals have been charged with over 50 counts of misappropriation of public funds, conflict of interest, and falsification of public records. Prosecutors claim that the city officials legally inflated their salaries and then falsified public records to hide those salaries. The city manager was found to have a salary and compensation package of $1.5 million. In order to pay those salaries, prosecutors allege,… Read More

On February 14, a man from Miami pleaded guilty to drug charges related to drug smuggling in Los Angeles, according to CNN. The man attempted to smuggle cocaine inside Easter eggs. Officials searched his luggage after he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and found dozens of pastel egg-shaped containers. According to officials, they may not have been noticed if he hadn’t been carrying the eggs just days before Christmas. The man’s luggage contained a total of 14 pounds of cocaine, which is estimated to be worth over $100,000. Most of the cocaine was inside the eggs, but some was… Read More

Police are investigating the deaths of three individuals who were found dead in a home in Whittier recently, according to The Los Angeles Times. The incident could be the result of a domestic dispute. Police answered calls that a woman had been shot in the house, and a SWAT team was brought in because police believed the gunman was still inside the residence. All three people found had died from gunshot wounds. The victims were a man in his 30s, and a man and a woman who were both in their 60s. According to neighbors, a couple and their adult… Read More

A study released earlier this week shows that crime increased when hundreds of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries were closed in 2010 after the implementation of a new ordinance, according to CBS News. Crime in the neighborhoods surrounding the dispensaries went up after they closed, contradictory to law enforcement claims that the operation of such clinics encouraged crime. The research study was conducted by the objective nonprofit RAND Corporation, who reviewed crime reports from the 10 days before the medical marijuana clinics were closed and from 10 days after. The resulting analysis showed a 60 percent increase in crime within… Read More

According to FBI statistics, as reported by The Los Angeles Times, approximately 10.3 million crimes were reported in 2010. Of these, 9 million were property crimes and 1.2 million were violent crimes. Although these are very large numbers, both violent crime and property crime rates declined from previous years. Violent crime decreased by 6 percent from 2009, continuing its declining trend for a fourth consecutive year. Property crime dropped 2.7 percent from 2009, making 2010 the eighth consecutive year it has decreased. The data used for the FBI’s 2010 “Crime in the United States” report was compiled from over 18,000… Read More

Thousands of female prisoners who have children, and were not incarcerated for serious or sexual crimes, may be released before October, according to The Los Angeles Times. They would serve the remainder of their sentence at home where they will be required to wear a GPS-enabled ankle bracelet and report to a parole officer. The new program was initiated to meet a court-imposed deadline to relieve congestion in California’s chronically overcrowded prisons. Although the program initially only affects female inmates who are mothers, it is expected to extend to male prisoners as well. The new policy is the result of… Read More

Almost 11,000 people are killed in alcohol-related each year and Labor Day weekend has historically had a high number of DUI accidents, which is why many states and local law enforcement agencies will be doing their part for the end of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign for the holiday weekend. California will be increasing DUI enforcement during the last weekend of this national campaign, which ends on September 5. During the almost month-long campaign, 41 Avoid DUI task forces and more than 100 individual local jurisdictions conducted extra sobriety checkpoints and… Read More

CNN reports that a bill that is headed for a vote here in California has re-started conversation about whether or not life sentences given to juveniles should be re-analyzed. Senate Bill 9, which would give certain juvenile offenders the chance for release, is headed soon to the Assembly floor for a vote. Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) introduced the legislation, which would permit juveniles to request a court to re-analyze their sentence after they have already served 15 years in prison for their alleged crime. Yee, a former child psychologist, has argued that juveniles do not possess the capability to… Read More

KABC-TV reports that 20 people were recently arrested after a gang sweep was conducted in Riverside by authorities. According to the article, 36 arrest warrants, 19 state search warrants, and 21 parole and probation searches were conducted by Riverside police officers, along the Riverside County Gang Task Force, the Corona police, and agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, as well as the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, in addition to other agencies. Called “Operation Tampa Bay,” it was conducted in the early morning hours, and by mid-day, alleged members of the 1200 Blocc Crips… Read More