Recently in LAPD Category

Services have been schedule for a 24-year Los Angeles police veteran and West Covina man who was killed in a motorcycle crash while on his way to work last week.
Jesus Ravega, 48, died following Friday's crash on the 101 Freeway at the 110 Freeway interchange, according to LAPD and coroner's officials.
A celebration of Ravega's life will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the Lighthouse Baptist Church, 2600 N. White Ave. in La Verne.
A funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Faith Community Church in West Covina, 1211 E. Badillo Street, followed by en entombment ceremony at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary in Whittier.
Ravega was last assigned to the Foothill Area Detectives gang unit.
"The death of Jesus is a tremendous loss to the LAPD and to the community," Los Angeles Police Protective League President Paul Weber said. "Jesus was a dedicated police officer and will be greatly missed. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time. Jesus was known for his kindness and his helpful nature and right now our focus needs to be on taking care of the family and friends he left behind."
Ravega, known to his friends as "Jess," is survived by his wife, Jeannette, two daughter and a son, longtime friend John Holloway said.
Ravega attended church with Holloway for the past 10 years at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in La Verne.
"Jess sang in a choir. He taught Sunday school," Holloway said.
A fellow church member was able to find Ravega's notes, and this past Sunday delivered Ravega's last sermon, Holloway said.
"He loved the Lord. He served the Lord diligently," Holloway said. He was also a dedicated father and husband and a passionate police detective, he added.
The friend further described Ravega as being "mild-manners" and having a "cool head."
"He always had a smile on his face, never complained and was diligent in doing what he needed to do."
"He was a good golfer," Holloway said. "He enjoyed life. He was a good motorcycle rider."
The crash took place about 11 a.m. Friday as Ravega was northbound on the freeway, LAPD officials said in a written statement.
"As he was passing a big rig truck, he lost control of his motorcycle and fell," the statement said. "The passing truck ran over the officer's motorcycle and then the officer."
Witnesses stopped to try to help and called 9-1-1, officials said. Ravega was rushed to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead Friday afternoon.
"I just can't seem to say enough," Holloway said. "It's hard to explain in words. He's one of these types of persons that we all want to be."

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- The attorney for a mechanic accused of the "Grim Sleeper" serial killings criticized Los Angeles police Saturday for releasing photographs of women seized at the suspect's home.
Louisa Pensanti said the photos include family and friends of suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr. who are now under intense public and police scrutiny. She also said investigators' comments at a recent news conference were "jeopardizing Lonnie Franklin's chance for a fair trial."
"Those are family photos," she told The Associated Press, adding that Franklin's relatives are upset that the photos were released publicly.
LAPD spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said investigators could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last week, police released the photos of about 160 women in the hopes of finding out who they are and if anything happened to them.
Police said they've received hundreds of calls. Several callers told investigators they were among the women in the photographs, but police must interview them individually to be sure.
Before the photos were released, investigators contacted Pensanti asking that Franklin's wife come down to the police station to view the photographs, the lawyer said. When Pensanti instead requested a copy of the photos so she could review them privately, investigators refused, she said.
"There's no reason she had to come down to the police department," Pensanti said.
Franklin is accused of killing 10 women beginning in 1985, and he has pleaded not
guilty. The photos and videos were found in Franklin's home and garage during a search after his July arrest. None of the photos depicted the alleged victims.
Investigators spent years trying to crack the case. Franklin's arrest finally came after his son was swabbed for DNA after being arrested on an unrelated matter, and the sample connected the father to evidence from the killings.

This comes from the Robbery/Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Officials believe that the suspected Grim Sleeper may be responsible for several murders that have yet to be attributed to suspect Lonnie David Franklin.

On Thursday officials released several images of woman confiscated from Franklin's South Los Angeles home.

The images are available on the LAPD website at www.lapdonline.org.

LAPD press release on the jump:

Nearly 20 cops from the Los Angeles area and New York are preparing to trade blows in an annual boxing match to benefit cancer research at City of Hope.
The "17th Annual Fight for Life" will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at Quiet Cannon, 901 N. Via San Clemente, Montebello.
The boxing match will pit men and women from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles police officers against their counterparts at the New York Police Department to raise money for the City of Hope in Duarte, a national leader in the fight against cancer.
Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and New York police Lt. Dave Siev and the fighters met with hospital officials Wednesday in advance of the bouts.
"Through your efforts and your partnership, you enable City of Hope to do research that saves lives," City of Hope Senior Vice President of Development Alan Levey told the deputies and officers.
Funds raised by Fight for Life -- nearly $1 million to date -- allow researchers to transform new ideas into life-saving cures, he added.
Baca said he was pleased his department was able to help.
"We're not only enforcing the law," he said, "We're also helping children regain themselves and have a future," he said.
Fight for Life began in 1994 after some deputies in East Los Angeles befriended 9-year-old cancer patient, Joshua Moreno.
Though Moreno died of his disease in 1994, the charity event he inspired continues on.
New York police officers have taken part in Fight for Life before, most recently seven years ago, officials said. Their participation this year is due to an invitation from the LAPD.
"I put out an offer that the NYPD would fight anyone for charity," Siev said. "LAPD took me up on the offer."
As Chief Beck's officers prepared to trade blows, he said the more challenging battle is the one City of Hope researched take on daily. "The toughest fights are going on on this campus today."
Nine fights are expected to take place, including at least one between female fighters. The majority of bouts will place East Coast and West Coast cops in opposite corners of the ring, however LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are scheduled to clash in at least two fights.
Tickets are available through the Sheriff's Relief Association of Los Angeles County at 562-946-7081, or through the Los Angeles Police Protective League at 213-251-4554. Tickets start at $25, with reserved seating starting at $50 and ringside seats for $100.

PHOTO: Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck(rear, center),  flanked to his
right by New York Police Lt. Dave Siev and Los Angeles County Sheriff
Lee Baca, pose for a picture with LAPD, NYPD and LASD deputies and
officers at City of Hope in Duarte on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010. The
officers and deputies will be boxing in the "Fight for Life"
tournament on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, in Montebello, to raise money
for City of Hope.

"America's Got Talent" audition, ecstasy, speed, a missing woman and the arrest of a rock musician. This story has some interesting twists:

Los Angeles police said Tuesday the wife of a man vying for a spot on "America's Got Talent" was found dead in the stairwell of an upscale hotel where the T.V. show was holding auditions.

Covina native Laura Finley, 48, was discovered about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning by a guest of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

Police said her death appeared to be accidental, but they are looking into "other possibilities" as a precaution, Los Angeles Police Lt. Paul Vernon said.

The coroner's office is waiting for the results of toxicology tests before determining Laura Finley's cause of death, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Fred Corral said.

Laura Finley grew up in Covina and married her high school sweet heart, Joe Finley, four years after graduating from Northview High School in 1980, said Laura Finley's sister, Jill Sutterlin.

"My sister loved her husband more than she loved her children and herself," Sutterlin said. "She was his number one fan."

Joe Finley called hotel security and reported his wife missing after he got out of bed Saturday, Vernon said.

The 47-year-old rock musician then attended an audition for the NBC reality T.V. show, Vernon said. Police later notified him about the death of his wife.

Joe Finley was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of drug possession, Vernon said.

During an interview with detectives, Joe Finley said he and his wife had consumed ecstasy before her death, Vernon said.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- Some 70 Camp Pendleton Marines have been patrolling the streets of Los Angeles' toughest neighborhoods with the LAPD to learn skills they hope to apply in Afghanistan.
The Marines say learning to work like a cop on a beat will help them better track the Taliban, build relationships with Afghans leery of foreign troops and make them better teachers as they try to professionalize an Afghan police force beset by corruption.
The weeklong exercise -- unbeknownst to the public -- involved Marines dressed in jeans and T-shirts observing drugs busts, witnessing prostitution arrests and even following a murder case. It was the largest group of Marines to embed with the city's officers.

With all his appearances at award shows, trips with his reporter girlfriend and official appearances at big games, it's hard to know how Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa fit an appearance at LAPD HQ into his schedule today, but he did. Here's the latest AP story on the capture of a suspect in the Grim Sleeper serial killer case:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the arrest of a suspect in the so-called "Grim Sleeper" serial killings ends 25 years of "terror" in the city. The mayor told a press conference Thursday that he wished to thank a special team of detectives that worked on the case full time.

Fifty-seven-year-old Lonnie Franklin Jr. was charged Wednesday with 10 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and special circumstance allegations of multiple murders that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

The killings in South Los Angeles ranged from 1985 until 2007.

Police Chief Charlie Beck says the detective team made its investigation the largest current case in his department.

This from KTTV, the local Fox affiliate:

Los Angeles - Police say former Los Angeles police Chief Daryl Gates, who resigned in the wake of the Rodney King beating, is seriously ill.

Current Chief Charlie Beck told the city Police Commission on Tuesday that the 83-year-old former chief has a serious malady and that he visited Gates in the hospital over the weekend. But he provided no details.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- An audit says Los Angeles police have significantly reduced a backlog of DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases.
Controller Wendy Greuel said Thursday that the number of untested evidence kits has
dropped by 64 percent, from about 7,000 to around 2,500.
However, her audit says more precautions should be taken to prevent future backlogs.
The kits contain evidence such as body fluids or fingernail scrapings that could provide DNA
evidence of a suspect.
A proposed state bill would require police to notify the state of their progress in testing
rape evidence.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also has decades of untested rape evidence from
cases submitted to its labs by smaller police agencies.

From the DA's office:

LOS ANGELES - Three Los Angeles Police Department officers who allegedly lied under oath about during a drug possession trial last year were charged today with conspiracy and perjury.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Hassett with the Justice System Integrity Division said former LAPD Officer Evan Samuel, and Officers Richard Amio and Manuel Ortiz are scheduled to surrender on Thursday for arraignment.

Hassett filed a felony complaint for arrest warrant on Monday charging 37-year-old Samuel, 30-year-old Amio, and 36-year-old Ortiz with one count each of conspiracy. In addition, Samuel is charged with three counts of perjury. Amio is charged with two counts of perjury and Ortiz is charged with one count of perjury. All are felonies.

During a preliminary hearing and later during the June 2008 trial for Guillermo Alarcon, the three allegedly falsely testified about seeing the defendant Alarcon throw away a black object near a trash bin that turned out to be cocaine base. Ortiz allegedly denied under oath that he was in fact the officer who found a package containing cocaine powder near a dumpster while the other officers were searching a laundry room for drugs.

Samuel and Amio also signed under penalty of perjury a police report that was allegedly false.

Alarcon's drug possession case was dismissed in June 2008 at the request of prosecutors after footage from the apartment building's security camera contradicted the sworn testimony of the officers.

All three are scheduled for arraignment after 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Criminal Justice Center, Department 30. Hassett is asking that bail be set at $120,000 for Samuel, $70,000 for Amio and $45,000 for Ortiz.

A stamp commemorating the 1950s TV show "Dragnet," which dramatized the Los Angeles Police Department, will be issued Tuesday during a ceremony at the LAPD Academy in Elysian Park.

The stamp is one of 20 that commemorates early TV shows and the only stamp to pay tribute to law enforcement, according to the U.S. Postal Service. The stamps go on sale at noon.

Opal Webb, surviving spouse of "Dragnet" creator Jack Webb, who played Sgt. Joe Friday, will be at the ceremony, along with Harry Morgan, who played Officer Bill Gannon in the 1960s TV revival of the show. One of the show's narrators, John Stephenson, is also to be at the ceremony, along with LAPD Chief William Bratton and Councilman Tom LaBonge.

At the event, people will be able to purchase an exclusive LAPD 140th anniversary postmark, complete with a commemorative envelope and a special "Badge 714" photo stamp, designed and offered through the LAPD Historical Society.

There's a lot of speculation in the news room this morning about Chief Bill Bratton's sudden announcement.  Is something up? Or is it just time to go?