Good Morning. Join us as the LAPPL hosts the Undercover Operations Symposium on Monday August 26, 2019. Proceeds benefit the Officer Needs Help Fund. LAPPL members can receive reimbursement through the HEAT Program. Ret. FBI Agent Joe Pistone (Real Donnie Brasco) is one of the featured speakers. Event is open to sworn/civilian law enforcement personnel and first responders, active and retired. Click here for more information. Law Enforcement News ‘Police Are Under Increased Attack’: Alabama Officers Face Deadly Year Three Alabama police officers died in the first half of 2019, and five others were injured in shootings, in what authorities say is a rise in gun violence involving law enforcement. Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Carter was killed Jan. 13, Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder was killed Jan. 20 and Auburn Police Officer William Buechner was killed May 19. In all of 2018, two Alabama law enforcement officers died in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. There was one line of duty death statewide each year in 2016 and 2017 and four each year in 2014 and 2015. In addition to the deaths of Carter, Tuder and Buechner, at least five other officers have been injured by gunfire. In the Birmingham shooting that killed Carter, Officer Luke Allums was critically wounded and hospitalized for nine days. He has since returned to work. Two Auburn officers - Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott – were injured in the May incident that killed Buechner. Another Auburn officer – Justin Sanders - was shot and wounded in February. Officers Sanders, Sistrunk and Elliott continue to recover but have not returned to work at this time, according to Auburn police. AL.com Decades After Deaths Of 4 Chicago Cops, Police Stars Added To Wall Honoring Fallen Officers On Tuesday, four more police stars were added to the 501 stars that already grace the walls of Chicago police headquarters — each representing a fallen officer. “These are lives cut short because they made good on their oaths to serve and protect the people of Chicago,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said during a brief ceremony in which relatives of the deceased officers placed their police stars inside the “Honored Star Case” — a glass display that lines an entrance of the building at 35th Street and Michigan Avenue. “We thank you, we honor you, and we will never forget you,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at the ceremony. Each of the four officers honored Tuesday died in the 1980s. Officer Robert E. Marousek Sr. died in 1981 at the age of 35 from a heart attack he suffered moments after loading the body of an unresponsive man into a police vehicle. Officer Gregory R. Edwards was off-duty when he was confronted by a gunman at a hotel in 1987. After identifying himself as a police officer, Edwards, 27, was fatally shot in the head and chest. Officer Arthur O. Jackson was pronounced dead from cardiac arrest shortly after chasing a suspect who was spotted driving a stolen vehicle in 1987. He was 66. Officer Helen P. Cardwell, 50, died in car accident in 1988. She lost control of her vehicle while driving to pick up her assigned squad car. She veered into oncoming traffic and two trees. Chicago Sun Times The San Fernando Valley Just Saw A ‘Very Unusual’ Spate Of Killings In A Matter Of Days As a heat wave descended on Los Angeles this week, the San Fernando Valley was hit with what appeared to some to be an unusually high number of people killed in homicides. Police spent much of Thursday on the hunt for a 26-year-old Canoga Park resident suspected of killing four people in the span of about 24 hours. And the manhunt came after the Valley bureau and residents were already contending with the homicide deaths of three other people that were reported earlier in the week. Sgt. Dave Peteque, a Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective assigned to the Valley, said Thursday that there have been seven homicides reported so far this week. “That is very unusual, unfortunately,” he said in a brief interview. Peteque said that he was unavailable for a longer interview due to the ongoing search and investigation taking place Thursday in the deaths of two people in Canoga Park apartment building, a woman at a North Hollywood Shell gas station, and a bus rider on the Orange Line that were believed to have been committed by one person. Gerry Dean Zaragoza, the suspect in those homicides was apprehended Thursday afternoon. On Saturday, a drive-by shooting in Valley Village took the life of 27-year-old North Hollywood resident Alcides Quiroz Portillo as he walked in an alley southeast of Burbank Boulevard and Whitsett Avenue. Los Angeles Daily News LAPD Catches Suspect Accused Of Killing 4, Wounding 2 In San Fernando Valley A back-and-forth San Fernando Valley dragnet for a man accused of shooting to death his dad and a brother in a Canoga Park apartment, a woman acquaintance at a North Hollywood gas station and finally a passenger on an Orange Line bus ended just two miles from where the spree began nearly 12 hours before on Thursday with his arrest. Along the way, besides those four who were killed, the suspect’s mother was shot, and so was another man in North Hollywood, police said. At about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, 26-year-old Gerry Dean Zaragoza was arrested near Canoga Avenue and Gault Street after police blamed him for those crimes as well as an attempted robbery of another man at a bank. Speaking shortly after the arrest, Kris Pitcher, chief of detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department, said police soon put together that the two shootings on opposite ends of the Valley were linked, though he wouldn’t spell out exactly when they figured that out, or why they focused on Zaragoza. “After we had multiple killed in a short time, we put significant investigative resources on this,” Pitcher said. “It was pretty quickly that we discovered they were related.” Los Angeles Daily News Family of Valley Crime Spree Victim Says Suspect Became Obsessed With Woman A small memorial popped up overnight in front of the North Hollywood Shell gas station where a woman was fatally shot Thursday. According to police, the woman — who has been identified by her family as 45-year-old Azucena “Susie” Lepe — was working at the gas station in the 6700 block of Vineland in the early morning hours. That’s when police said 26-year-old Gerry Zaragoza fatally shot Lepe and critically injured a male gas station employee. “She was face down, and she was crying,” Jesse, a man who witnessed the shooting, said. “I just told her, ‘I’m with you here.’ I just wanted to comfort her, that she wasn’t alone and that somebody was there. I don’t want anybody to pass alone.” According to Lepe’s sister, she and Zaragoza dated briefly. But when Lepe broke off the relationship, the family said Zaragoza became obsessed with the woman. CBS 2 3 Burglary Suspects Wanted After SWAT Team Storms Northridge Marijuana Dispensary A search is underway for three burglary suspects who got away after authorities descended on a marijuana dispensary in Northridge early Thursday morning. When the SWAT team arrived at the Circle of Hope Alliance dispensary on Roscoe Boulevard around 6 a.m., they swept through the property, but nobody was found in the building. Police said the three possibly armed male suspects went inside the building and managed to get away. The scene was cleared within hours, but authorities have not released updates on their search. ABC 7 Man, 27, Faces Charges In Alleged Santa Monica Sexual Assaults A 27-year-old man was jailed without bail Thursday and was facing charges in connection with sexual assaults and robberies in Santa Monica. Fernando Venancio Jr. of Lynwood was arrested on Monday night, according to Santa Monica Police and sheriff’s inmate records. Officers responded about 4:15 p.m. Monday to a call for service in the 800 block of 18th Street after a struggle could be heard. “When officers arrived, they spoke with the victim of a robbery and an attempted sexual assault,” according to Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Saul Rodriguez. Officers searched for the suspect and found Venancio in the 900 block of 19th Street, the lieutenant said. “Following a preliminary investigation, SMPD detectives have been able to link Venancio to two others incidents,” Rodriguez said. One was a June 6 sexual assault in the 800 block of 18th Street and the other a July 18 sexual assault in the area of Santa Monica Boulevard and 17th Street, according to Rodriguez. Venancio is now facing rape, robbery and assault with intent to commit rape charges, Rodriguez said. MyNewsLA.com California Teen Reported Missing 3 Months Ago Found Alive In Mexico, Mother — A Suspect In A Murder — Arrested A teenage girl reported missing in California three months ago was found alive in Mexico with her mother, who has been arrested in connection with a murder, police said. Authorities began searching for Alora Benitez, who was 15 at the time, after she was seen April 17 getting into a white BMW in Torrance, California, with her mother, Maricela Mercado, and a man identified as Roman Cerratos — both of whom were wanted for murder. The vehicle they were traveling in was later found abandoned near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro, a community in San Diego. The search for Benitez ended Tuesday when the teen and Mercado were picked up by authorities in Chihuahua, Mexico, according to a statement by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "Both Maricela Mercado and Alora Benitez were deported from Mexico, being deemed to have entered the country illegally," the department said. "They were transported to the Paso Del Norte port of entry and were delivered to agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection." NBC News Public Safety News LAFD Conducts Cliff Rescue In RPV The cliffs in Rancho Palos Verdes were the site of a water rescue Thursday evening following reports someone became stuck in a cave during high tide. The Los Angeles Fire Department was dispatched to a cove near Palos Verdes Drive South and Peppertree Drive around 8 p.m. where a 23-year-old man was trapped inside a gorge at high tide near Inspiration Point. The victim was transported to a local hospital in unknown condition. CBS 2 Major California Utilities Agree To Pay Into Wildfire Fund California’s three investor-owned electric utilities have agreed to chip in a combined $10.5 billion to a new fund to cover the costs of future catastrophic wildfires caused by power company equipment. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric’s decision Thursday to contribute to the fund marks a win for Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers who argued it will help stabilize the state’s utilities and protect ratepayers. San Diego Gas & Electric had already agreed to contribute to the fund. How much each utility gives depends on its risk of catastrophic wildfire and prior history with safety. Pacific Gas & Electric will pay the most when it emerges from bankruptcy, with San Diego Gas & Electric paying the least. The utilities can tap into the fund to cover costs from wildfires caused by their equipment when those damages go beyond what is already covered by their insurance policies. The companies must also meet new safety standards and spend billions of dollars on fire prevention measures. Associated Press Local Government News “Giant Leap For The City”: Garcetti Announces New Homelessness Initiative Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti walked the streets of Skid Row Thursday morning as he announced a new initiative that he hopes will improve the city’s homeless crisis. Garcetti is asking for money from the state and Washington to help fund a new $2 million program that will employ homeless people to help clean up Skid Row — the neighborhood that has become synonymous with the city’s humanitarian crisis. “Remember what they said when they first landed on the moon, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’,” Garcetti said. “This is going to be one small action for Skid Row, and one giant leap for the city.” Garcetti’s tour began with a look at the new location for what’s called The Bin — a warehouse in Skid Row where the homeless can store their belongings in assigned, secured plastic bins. The effort, paid for by the city and run by the nonprofit Chrylsalis, is especially helpful for those facing homelessness who find jobs — they can store their items instead of leaving them on the streets. Garcetti said efforts like this are small steps toward a larger goal. CBS 2 Metro Gets First Electric Bus For Orange Line, 39 More On The Way The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday received its first zero-emission electric bus, which is slated to be deployed on the Metro Orange Line later this year. “These zero-emission buses … will provide reliable service while also reducing the agency’s carbon footprint,” said James Butts, the mayor of Inglewood and the chair of the Metro Board of Directors. “This is a win-win for our riders, our communities and the environment.” The 60-foot bus is manufactured by New Flyer and uses some of the latest technologies, according to Metro officials. It is the first of 40 electric buses from New Flyer that will be arriving over the next year. 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