City News Service (CNS)

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore says the COVID-19 pandemic has helped drive gun violence and increase killings in the city this year, including by spurring economic despair and interpersonal dramas while undercutting efforts to interrupt cycles of retaliation. "What we're sensing is a lot of stress, a lot of communities that are on edge, a certain amount of depression," Moore said during a morning meeting of the civilian Police Commission in remarks reported by the Los Angeles Times. In addition to serving as an emotional and economic wrecking ball, the pandemic, Moore said, has shifted nighttime...

By Elizabeth Marcellino, City News Service LOS ANGELES (CNS) - From March to mid-June, as stay-at-home orders took effect and Los Angeles County officials moved to release jail inmates to prevent the spread of coronavirus, jail bookings dropped by more than half, according to a report available today on the county's website. However, the numbers of people behind bars may be creeping up again, although the report cautioned that it is too soon to draw reliable conclusions about the reason for the higher numbers. County officials, criminal justice advocates, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva have all focused on a drop in the jail...

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County's court system is set to expand audio and video court appearances for hearings to all 250 criminal courtrooms, starting today. The Webex service -- which had been in place in 32 courtrooms throughout the county -- will be available in each criminal courtroom at nearly two-dozen courthouses, according to the court. The program was initially launched in April, with defendants who were willing to waive their court appearances appearing via video from jail for arraignment. "The court has prioritized and expedited remote appearance options throughout the nation's largest trial court system to achieve social distancing...

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Criminal charges filed against three Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of falsifying records about gang affiliation has led to a review of hundreds of criminal cases, the District Attorney's Office confirmed today. The officers -- who were assigned at the time to the LAPD's Metropolitan Division -- allegedly falsified field interview cards and misidentified dozens of people who were stopped by the officers as gang members. Prosecutors allege some of the false information contained in thecards was used to wrongfully enter people into a state gang database. The charges against the three men stemmed from a...

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - At least three people were recovering today after being injured in confrontations with police during multiple demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles. All three suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department's Margaret Stewart. Protesters, in support of the two-month police protest movement in Portland, Ore., smashed windows and spray-painted slogans at the Metropolitan Detention Center and threw objects at officers during a federal courthouse confrontation. Two separate demonstrations began in front of Los Angeles City Hall Saturday, one organized by the group Refuse Fascism as part of an ongoing...

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Statewide polling highlighted today by a multi-ethnic coalition of Los Angeles-based nonprofit organizations shows a consensus building, particularly among com-munities of color, that police reforms are necessary, as well as support for protests against police brutality. The poll -- co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Urban League, HOPE (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality) and CAUSE (Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment) -- concludes that most Californians believe that recent protests of police brutality have brought people closer together and raised awareness of racial discrimination. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with leaders of other communities who have protested...