Email from Los Angeles Police Protective League Daily News & Updates   Law Enforcement News LAPD chief ousts lawyer blamed by union for disclosing thousands of officer photos Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell has axed the head of the department’s constitutional policing office, parting ways with a top lawyer who had drawn the wrath of the police union for her role in the controversial release of thousands of mugshot-style photos of officers. In the most significant change to his staff since taking over the department, McDonnell ousted Lizabeth Rhodes, the LAPD’s highest-ranking civilian employee. McDonnell informed Rhodes through a subordinate that her services would no longer be needed, according to multiple department sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel changes. A former federal prosecutor appointed by then-Chief Michel Moore in 2019, Rhodes has been a deeply polarizing figure inside the department. Among her backers, she was seen as a no-nonsense, straight-talking leader who had helped steer the department through ever-changing legal issues including traffic stops, press access and news events. But the powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League frequently targeted Rhodes with stinging criticism in its monthly magazine, including over a policy that limited “pretextual stops” of motorists and pedestrians. The union, which represents rank-and-file officers, also blamed Rhodes and Moore for releasing thousands of photos of police officers under the state’s public records law in 2022. Los Angeles Times Hit-and-run crashes decline, few fleeing drivers are caught, LAPD data shows As the driver of a Lamborghini had yet to be found following a deadly hit-and-run crash in Hancock Park early Monday, data from the Los Angeles Police Department shows many hit-and-run drivers are never arrested. Among the more than 7,500 hit-and-run crashes with injuries that happened each year in 2022, 2023 and 2024, fewer than 2% involved fatalities, and roughly 1% led to arrests, according to the LAPD's public-facing collection of traffic collision and arrest data. As of mid-March, the city had recorded 18 deadly hit-and-runs since January 1, a 28% reduction, and an overall 13% reduction in hit-and-runs with serious injuries or fatalities when compared with the same period last year. The total number of traffic fatalities, including hit-and-runs and other kinds of incidents, dropped by nearly 40% in LA during the first months of the year, the LAPD reported. As of Monday afternoon, the identity of the female victim in the Hancock Park crash had not been made public. She was believed to be in her 30s. The LAPD said it was still searching for the driver of the Lamborghini SUV. NBC 4 Man arrested for hit-and-run crash that killed 22-year-old skateboarder in Koreatown Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened in the Koreatown area last week. The crash happened a little before 6 a.m. on Thursday near Mariposa Avenue and Sixth Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators said that a car traveling northbound on Catalina Avenue was making a left turn onto Sixth Street when it collided with the 22-year-old man riding a skateboard. The victim, who has been identified as Oscar Lopez, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. In the days after the crash, police were unable to provide information on the suspect's vehicle or identity, but on Tuesday they announced that he was arrested over the weekend on Sunday. The suspect, 20-year-old Fedir Iatsenko, was booked for gross vehicular manslaughter and was scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday. Detectives did not relay information regarding his arrest. No further details were provided. CBS 2 Smash-and-grab burglars use car to plow into downtown L.A. shoe store An investigation is underway after burglars used a vehicle to smash in the front of a shoe store in downtown Los Angeles overnight. The damage was visible Tuesday morning at the Sports Town shop in Maple Alley Fashion Corner on 12th Street and Maple Avenue. The front security door had been smashed in and peeled back allowing the burglars access to the store. Glass and debris could be seen outside the shop while the inside had been ransacked with shoe boxes and merchandise left all over the floor. A Los Angeles Police Officer at the scene said that cash and merchandise were taken from the store. There was no immediate description of the suspects or the vehicle used in the burglary. KTLA 5 More than 1,000 replica firearms seized at LAX by Customs and Border Protection officers Warning of the dangers involving replica toy guns, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at LAX reported seizing over 1,000 replica firearms at the airport over the last six months. Shipments from China, intended to be distributed at various locations across the United States, were misdeclared as "Alloy Miniature Toys." Federal law requires that toy guns, look-alike firearms, and imitation firearms sold or transported across state lines have a blaze orange plug inserted in the barrel or a stripe on both sides of the barrel. "If these items were to reach the streets, the consequences could be significant," said Cheryl M. Davies, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles. "Replica firearm, even though not always functional, can be easily mistaken for genuine weapons by the public and law enforcement. Such misidentification can lead to tragic outcomes." Since Oct. 1, 2024, CBP has seized over 1,000 replica firearms and has already destroyed 953 replica firearms, 111 replica suppressors, and 92 abandoned suppressors. CBS 2 Video: Man wielding knife sprints at Florida officer before fatal OIS A man was fatally shot by police after charging at an officer with a knife during a confrontation at an apartment complex, WSVN reported. The Stuart Police Department responded to a call on March 28 reporting that the suspect was stalking a woman with a knife, according to the report. A clip of surveillance footage released by the department the following day showed an officer getting out of his cruiser before a person could be seen running at him at full speed. The clip, which has no audio, shows the officer running away from the suspect while firing several shots, striking him. The suspect was transported to a hospital but later died from his injuries, according to the report. Officer Osinga, a 10-year veteran with the Martin County Police Department, has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation. According to Sheriff John Budensiek, the man had been threatening residents in the apartment complex with a knife for several days, though no one reported the behavior to police until the day of the shooting. PoliceOne Cop killer on S.C. death row chooses firing squad for execution A South Carolina death row inmate on Friday chose execution by firing squad, just five weeks after the state carried out its first death by bullets. Mikal Mahdi, who pleaded guilty to murder for killing a police officer in 2004, is scheduled to be executed April 11. Mahdi, 41, had the choice of dying by firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. He will be the first inmate to be executed in the state since Brad Sigmon chose to be shot to death on March 7. A doctor pronounced Sigmon dead less than three minutes after three bullets tore into his heart. “Faced with barbaric and inhumane choices, Mikal Mahdi has chosen the lesser of three evils,” one of his lawyers, David Weiss, said in a statement. “Mikal chose the firing squad instead of being burned and mutilated in the electric chair, or suffering a lingering death on the lethal injection gurney.” Mahdi ambushed Orangeburg public safety officer James Myers at the officer’s shed in Calhoun County in July 2004. Myers had just returned from an out-of-town birthday celebration for his wife, sister and daughter, prosecutors said. Myers’ wife found his burned body, shot at least eight times, including twice in the head, in the shed that had been the backdrop for their wedding less than 15 months earlier, authorities said. Associated Press Public Safety News MacArthur Park Residents Say LA City Safety Measures Aren’t Enough After Los Angeles city officials touted major public safety improvements in MacArthur Park and other area neighborhoods, a group of residents Tuesday challenged those results and called for urgent policy changes to restore their community. Raul Claros, founder of the CD1 Coalition, a mutual aid network, pointed to what he described as “public safety and infrastructure failures” in the Westlake neighborhood. During a news conference Tuesday, Claros painted a different picture than the one described by Mayor Karen Bass, Councilwoman Eunisses Hernanez and Police Chief Jim McDonnell weeks ago. “We need to start enforcing current laws,” Claros told City News Service. “… A lot of the issues now is not so much the homelessness or encampments, but the things that are happening in and around the encampments like human trafficking, sex trafficking and drug trafficking.” The CD1 Coalition — composed of residents, business owners, and other stakeholders — is calling for urgent solutions to address ongoing public safety issues. In their proposal, the group is requesting an increased Los Angeles Police Department presence; an effort to crack down on substance use in MacArthur Park; the repurposing of the Saint Vincent Medical building; fixing street lights; and creating more business districts and a designated area for street vendors. MyNewsLA Group of LA first responders join search efforts in Thailand after 7.7 earthquake A group of trained first responders made their way from Los Angeles to Thailand to lend their expertise following a massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake. Everyone from the group are current or former members of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, but they went as private citizens under the banner of a nonprofit. Eyewitness News spoke with Mike Leum, who organized the trip. He recently formed a nonprofit with reality star Jack Osbourne called "6:8" to offer help during international disasters. The team will be embedded with the Royal Thai Police Force in Bangkok to offer search and rescue assistance. And the team already comes with a wealth of experience. Most of them also responded to a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey in 2023. "Similar to Turkey, it's devastating for anybody involved - whether you're a family member or a rescue worker," he said. "We just want to reunite people with their family members, whatever that looks like." ABC 7 Local Government News L.A. City Council Advances Efforts to Reallocate $15 Million from Mansion Tax to Help Wildfire Survivors The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday advanced an effort to re-allocate some $15 million from the city's so-called "mansion tax" to an emergency rental assistance program for survivors of January's wildfires. In a 14-0 vote two years to the day after Measure United to House Los Angeles went into effect, the council requested the city attorney, Housing Department and chief legislative analyst to report on how they can disencumber up to $15 million, and up to 10% from each House LA Fund expenditure category, to support fire survivors. Councilman Curren Price was absent during the vote. Without discussion, the council approved a motion first introduced by members Bob Blumenfield, Traci Park, John Lee and Heather Hutt on Jan. 29. The Palisades Fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures, killed 12 people and burned down much of Pacific Palisades, leaving thousands of residents displaced. Voters passed Measure ULA in November 2022. It levied a 4% tax on property sales of more than $5 million and a 5.5% tax on sales of more than $10 million. Westside Current LA City Council approves right to legal counsel for evicted renters. How it works The LA City Council Tuesday voted unanimously to give legal representation to tenants facing eviction. After over two years in the making, the motion still requires approval by Mayor Karen Bass to be formally implemented. The concept was first introduced by Councilmembers Nithya Raman, Bob Blumenfield, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Heather Hutt, Eunisses Hernandez and Katy Yaroslavsky back in 2023. "I hope that with the passage of this ordinance, we can finally move forward on establishing a very important service here in the city of Los Angeles,'' Raman said Tuesday. Raman, chair of the council's housing and homelessness committee, noted that the ordinance was originally pursued by Blumenfield and former Councilman Paul Koretz about seven years ago. In 2018, the council instructed staff to begin developing a right to counsel ordinance. Three years later, the city launched its eviction defense program, offering eviction prevention services to residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of these programs are now funded through Measure United to House LA, approved by voters in November 2022. That measure levies a 4% tax on property sales of more than $5 million and a 5.5% tax on sales of more than $10 million. NBC 4 About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. 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