South LA to help host Olympic Trials course + LA Police Commission President works with community



USC will play host to the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon course.

USC will play host to the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon course.

2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon course map unveiled: South LA will play host to part of the Olympic Trials marathon course. Runners will breeze through USC and other areas of South LA in their bid for an Olympic spot. (Sports Illustrated)

Police Commission President Aims to Partner with South L.A. Community: The president of the LA Police Commission hopes that working with residents will ease tensions between police and neighbors. (Los Angeles Sentinel)

LA passes up funding for affordable housing + LA mandates earthquake retrofitting



LA will require buildings to undergo earthquake retrofitting starting in 2016.

LA will require buildings to undergo earthquake retrofitting starting in 2016.

LA Passing Up Tens of Millions For Infrastructure and Affordable Housing: Los Angeles is missing out on important revenue by not charging developer impact fees. These fees can fund a variety of things, including LAPD, libraries, parks and affordable housing construction. (LA Curbed)

Los Angeles Will Start Requiring Earthquake Retrofits For Apartment Buildings in February: Los Angeles will require buildings to undergo earthquake retrofitting starting in 2016, but the mandate leaves concrete structures a 25 year window to complete the project. (LA Curbed)

South LA police brutality vigil turns into protest



People gathered in Leimert Park to give a moment of silence and also vocalize their anger at police brutality | Alex Kanegawa

People gathered in Leimert Park to give a moment of silence and also vocalize their anger at police brutality | Alex Kanegawa

Initially designed as a peaceful vigil for victims of police brutality, the high-profile shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Ezell Ford in South L.A. turned Thursday’s National Moment of Silence into an outlet for anger.

Crowds swelled in Leimert Park to voice their frustrations, just days after a LAPD officer shot and killed Ford, 25, a little less than 5 miles away from the gathering. Like Brown, Ford was also unarmed.

A community activist known as Feminista Jones—whose real name is Michelle according to USA Today—was, like many, glued to the events unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri. She took inspiration from a planned vigil in New York to create an event called National Moment of Silence, popularized through its hashtag, #NMOS14.

From Long Island to San Diego, the event was designed to be, according to the Los Angeles Facebook page, “not protests, not rallies, just peaceful gatherings of friends.”

The L.A. gathering was held in Leimert Park, an area significant to African-Americans in South Los Angeles. People from outside the greater L.A. region also came to show their support, such as Joanna Lopez from the Inland Empire. Lopez came out for her 4-year-old son who is half-black and half-Latino.

“I feel like if I don’t step up, no one will,” Lopez said. “He will soon be a young man, and I would like him to feel safe.”

At around 4:00 p.m., a large crowd comprised mostly of African-Americans gathered peacefully with a variety of signs that read, “We stand with Ferguson,” and “Black lives matter.”

The gathering was led by citizens such as Najee Ali and members affiliated with Revcom, who gave speeches on police injustice against people of color throughout the country. When the group called for a moment of silence for victims of police brutality, the crowd raised their hands—a nod to Brown who, according to witnesses, was shot with his hands in the air.

NMOS14 was meant to be a quiet vigil, but anger and impatience ran high in Leimert Park, especially after the recent death of Ezell Ford, who was shot by the LAPD on Aug. 11. After the moment of silence, speeches by Ali and Revcom members were met with cheers and calls to “stop just standing around.” Actress Jenifer Lewis, who grew up around Ferguson, took up a microphone and recounted that “she was one of those people.”

“I want you all to take to social media, write so many letters to the White House that they can’t get out the door,” Kuenta said as she stamped her foot. “We need to tell the authorities to stop shooting our children.”

This prompted the crowd to march down Leimert. LAPD officers were nearby, and a drone even flew above the demonstrators, but authorities kept their distance.

The vigil-tuned-protest caused some mixed feelings from Breanna Jordan, a teacher who came to honor one of her students who was shot, unarmed, by police last year.

“Protest is good, but eventually these things die down. I want to see how we can organize to actually make change,” Jordan said. “All this yelling, I understand why some people are upset, but at the end of the that that’s just going to start nothing.”

Others, such as Alphi Black, want to see more action taken in situations of transparent police brutality. Black is from St. Louis, Mo. and is temporarily living in Los Angeles. She came to Leimert Park because she wanted to give support even though she couldn’t be in St. Louis.

“I’m going to be honest, in Ferguson there’s a lot more than peaceful protest that’s needed. It’s ground zero—the anger and energy is higher there, the police are agitating the situation. I’m not saying violent protest is needed, but if they are meeting us with violence, then we deserve to retaliate.”

For many people in the crowd, angry emotions stemmed from personal connections—such as Lopez’s fear for her son and Lewis’s childhood around Ferguson. The gratitude expressed by Deric Lewis, Michael Brown’s cousin, served as a reminder that the gathering was of a united community. Lewis even gave thanks to the media, who were initially slow to cover events in Ferguson until national outlets arrived on Tuesday.

“I came to show my support along with these people,” he said. “So thank you for coming out here to let people know what’s going on.”

Beyond the anger, some people called for peace. Mir Harris took up a microphone to tell the crowd to be mindful of how they treat others in their daily conversations. Change, it was implied, starts with individuals showing respect to each other in their communities.

For those who were critical of the approach, Harris made her feelings clear: “Don’t worry about who’s in front of the camera. Fuck knowing my name, just know that I’m as passionate as you are.”

Though NMOS14 was supposed to be merely a vigil, the high emotions that ran in Leimert Park strengthened the ties between those from both inside and outside L.A., and hardened people’s resolve to support the people protesting in Ferguson against racial injustice and police brutality.

This article was originally published on Neon Tommy.

Nonprofit Spotlight: Cop Watch Los Angeles (CWLA)



Photo Courtesy of Copwatch Los Angeles Facebook

Photo Courtesy of Copwatch Los Angeles Facebook

Intersections’ Nonprofit Spotlight series profiles South L.A. organizations that are propelling positive change in South L.A.

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Flyer from a fundraiser to free Joaquin Ceinfuegos, the founder of Copwatch LA, from jail | Photo Courtesy of Copwatch LA

Flyer from a fundraiser to free Joaquin Ceinfuegos, the founder of Copwatch LA, from jail | Photo Courtesy of Copwatch LA

What is Cop Watch LA’s purpose?  According to our mission statement,”CWLA is a program, coalition, and network dedicated to the struggle that will end police terrorism through collecting information on and observing police activity, by offering support to those caught in the criminal injustice system, fighting for change without a reformist consciousness, and working side-by-side with oppressed communities*, and grassroots organizations to create revolutionary alternatives to policing, prisons, and all systems of domination, oppression and exploitation by building healthy, safe, and liberated communities.” [Read more…]

Reward money for Christopher Dorner withdrawn



The $1.2 million reward money put up for the ex-LADP officer Christopher Dorner may never actually make it into the hands of the citizens that helped with the manhunt. Click here to read more.

OPINION: We may forget Dorner, but we won’t forget the LAPD’s history



The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has developed a reputation in the Los Angeles community and in the nation as one of the most brutal and corrupt police departments in the U.S., a reputation stemming from cases such as Rodney King and those involving the Rampart Division. For more of the story please click here.

Law enforcement officials praise success of South LA task force



Listen to an audio story by Annenberg Radio News

imageLos Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday he was proud of the results from the second year of Save Our Streets, a three-month collaboration between South Los Angeles police officers and the FBI.

This summer, the task force solved 50 murders, 85 percent of them gang-related. They included the Christmas Day shooting of Kashmier James ,who was killed in front of her 3-year-old daughter, and the killing later that week of Taburi Watson a 14-year-old boy riding his bicycle.

LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon said the program helped bring closure to families who otherwise might never find answers.

“The homicide detectives, they do what they do, they get out at all hours of the night, they pull their hair out trying to find witnesses and people to cooperate in investigations, and they do it for the families,” he said. “The bond that they actually have with these families is actually unbelievable. But there’s a lot more work to be done.”

That work includes nearly 1,000 more unsolved homicides, some dating back to 1978. South Los Angeles remains far from safe, as a deadly shooting Tuesday at Algin Sutton Park on Hoover Street illustrated.

But Beck, and Stephen Martinez, the assistant director of the FBI in Los Angeles, worry that the program might not be renewed for another year. It relies on hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funds to pay FBI agents and allow LAPD officers to work overtime, as well as to support an effort to digitize years of records.

“It is a sad but true statement to say that our ability to solve crime is often hampered by lack of funds,” Beck said. “When we can get federal funds, and we can get federal support, we can make a lot of progress, as has been evidenced by this task force.”

Gannon said the LAPD could use the help.

“The work goes on,” he said. “With the resources, without the resources, we seem to get the job done. But having the FBI really puts a jump-start, a kick-start into some of the cases that may have fallen behind.”

Beck said he’s hoping for a decision on the funding within the next six months, so that the program could be re-instated for next summer.

Anti-gang operation makes hundreds of arrests



Listen to an audio story by Annenberg Radio News


imagePolice and FBI agents announced hundreds of arrests made as part of a three-month program called Save Our Streets.

The program was designed to help overworked South Los Angeles police. On average, they resolve less than half of their gang cases.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Clark said unsolved murders can lead to a loss of faith in law enforcement.

“All too often it’s the case when a family member is murdered, they don’t know what’s going to happen, they don’t understand the process,” he said.
“It becomes very frustrating wondering what’s going on, are they going to solve the case, are they going to catch anyone, and they become extremely disenfranchised with the police department and the criminal justice system.”

Clark said the Save Our Streets program solved more than 70 percent of its cases. That included an arrest in the murder of Kashmier James, a 25-year-old woman shot on Christmas in front of her young daughter.

“I had the opportunity to meet with the family of Kashmier James, and they could not have been more thankful,” he said. “Certainly we will never be able to bring Ms. James back, but we are able to allow that family to begin the process of healing because they know that justice has been served.”

Law enforcement officials are touting the 168 arrests made since July, but they also acknowledge thousands of cases remain unsolved.

Clark said he hopes the program will continue, but that the reduction in crime levels could make it less of a priority. The final decision lies with FBI and police management.