LAPD

Before screaming “Fire in the hole!” and detonating a cache of confiscated fireworks on a residential street two years ago, Los Angeles police Det. Damien Levesque repeatedly walked away from critical discussions about the safety of the operation.He was the supervisor on the scene, yet he brushed off a warning from a senior bomb technician that too many fireworks were being discharged at the same time, according to the Los Angeles Police Department inspector general’s report which referred to Levesque only as…

He felt their gaze on his back as soon as he stepped out of the car.As he recalls that day, Bernard Robins says he saw three Los Angeles police officers eyeing him suspiciously from their department cruiser. He knew what to do in these situations. Arms in the air. No sudden movements. And, taking the bass out of his voice, he announced that he was one of their own, a cop. Still, out came the handcuffs.The encounter wouldn’t have looked out of place in many neighborhoods south of the Santa Monica Freeway, where Black and…

An email from a Los Angeles police officer that surfaced online Thursday said law enforcement was planning to arrest homeless people en masse during a scheduled cleanup — prompting the department to issue a condemnation of the email, and the city controller to promise an investigation.“Everyone will be arrested and all their belongings will be taken away by sanitation,” the email said.Hollywood resident and LAPD critic William Gude, who posts on Twitter under the account @FilmThePoliceLA, tweeted a screenshot just before…

Former child star Amanda Bynes was detained by Los Angeles police over the weekend for a mental health evaluation. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the case confirmed to The Times that the actor was referred for evaluation and treatment, months after she was reportedly placed on a psychiatric hold. The “All That” star-turned-fashion student was detained Saturday morning after police received a call from a woman who was in distress, TMZ reported. Bynes, 37, was taken to a police station where a medical unit…

Los Angeles police detectives have taken into custody several suspects in connection with a triple slaying outside a Benedict Canyon home earlier this year, law enforcement sources told The Times.After months of investigation that led detectives to a Beverly Hills high-rise, where a getaway car had been spotted, police have taken into custody those they say were involved in the Jan. 28 attack, which left three dead and four others critically wounded, according to law enforcement sources. Three suspects have been…

Anthony Soderberg was wounded, no longer armed and positioned precariously on a steep embankment when Los Angeles Police Lt. Ruben Lopez radioed to the surrounding SWAT team that the mentally ill man they’d just flushed from a nearby home remained a threat and must not be allowed to leave.SWAT Sgt. Tim Colomey, a crisis negotiator standing next to Lopez in the command center, was stunned — interpreting the remark, as he knew other officers would, as a kill order.“What the f— did you just say?” Colomey asked Lopez, just…

Albert Corado Sr. keeps his daughter’s number in his phone’s list of favorite contacts — even though he knows no matter how many times he calls, she won’t pick up.Dialing the number makes him feel closer to her, if only until the call goes to voicemail.It’s been nearly five years since Melyda “Mely” Corado was fatally shot by a Los Angeles police officer who was firing at a fleeing suspect. Her family has sued the city and the officers involved in the shooting, alleging that they opened fire recklessly into a crowded…

Ten years ago, the Los Angeles Police Department celebrated a historic hiring milestone, announcing the city had reached a target sought by at least two mayors and multiple police chiefs: 10,000 officers.That achievement was the culmination of an expensive seven-year campaign waged by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, much of it during a global recession that ravaged the city’s finances.Now, within a three-year span, those gains have been erased. The LAPD is hemorrhaging officers, with more leaving the force than are…

Police have identified the attempted murder suspect who led officers on a vehicle pursuit through South Los Angeles on Friday during which a puppy was thrown from the suspect’s moving vehicle.Gustavo Alvarez, 27, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and carjacking, police said. He is being held without bail. Police also identified two women arrested on suspicion of helping Alvarez evade officers as Lynette Moreno, 27, of Los Angeles, and Michelle Zamudio, 25, of Santa Monica.During the hours-long…

More than 300 Los Angeles police officers who worked in sensitive assignments gave notice Tuesday that they will file a negligence lawsuit against the city for allegedly endangering their lives by releasing their department photographs along with images of thousands of other cops under the state’s public records law.The government claim, a required precursor in California to a lawsuit against the city, seeks damages for the Los Angeles Police Department’s alleged “negligent, improper and malicious” release of their…