June 2016
Volume 1, Issue 3
Dear Friends:

This month, I would like to talk to you about a topic that is very much in the news: officer-involved shootings.

Learn more about how we plan to move forward on this important issue.
Spotlight: Use-of-Force Cases
Allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers are among the most discussed issues that face the District Attorney’s Office.

Every time a police officer or sheriff’s deputy shoots someone in the line of duty in Los Angeles County, the District Attorney’s Office conducts  an independent review of the incident . The District Attorney Response Team (DART) is sent to the scene immediately. Each team consists of an experienced prosecutor and a seasoned investigator. They are on call around the clock, every day of the year.

DART does not take over the investigation. The law enforcement agency involved must complete its own internal investigation and present its findings to prosecutors, who evaluate the legality of the officer's use of deadly force.

To help ensure transparency with the public, the District Attorney’s Office in June will begin publishing its reports regarding investigations of officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths. The reports will be available on the office’s website (http://da.lacounty.gov).

By sharing this information, the office hopes that it will improve public understanding of the issues surrounding each of these cases and how those issues are considered by prosecutors.

Because of heightened attention given to excessive force cases, District Attorney Jackie Lacey personally addressed the office’s practices in an article that was published on the Op-Ed pages of the Los Angeles Daily News and all Los Angeles News Group papers.

In the article, District Attorney Lacey said prosecutors consider the facts and the law when considering such cases. She added that it is her legal and ethical obligation to remain impartial until a rigorous and thorough investigation is completed in each and every case.

You may read the full article here.
Fraud Alert
    Significant Cases
In the tech support scam, crooks contact smart phones at random and claim an attempted software update has failed because of a virus. They say the purported problem can be remedied via a $10 credit card payment.
Read  the news release and  watch  the video to see how you can avoid falling for this scam.
  • Caught on camera: Montebello woman charged with stealing packages from an Alhambra home. Find out more about the charges she faces.

  • Read about a Glendale driver charged with assault after attempting to run a cyclist off the road and then falsely accusing the cyclist of striking his car. 

  • Three good Samaritans thwart an alleged date-drugging incident. Learn more about the criminal case filed.
Snapshot: Prosecutors Against Gun Violence

District Attorney Jackie Lacey discusses ways to reduce the number of illegal guns in Los Angeles County at the Prosecutors Against Gun Violence (PAGV) news conference held May 3 in Los Angeles. PAGV co-chairs Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. also addressed the issue of street gangs and guns.  
Project LEAD
Fifth-grade students from Lorena Street Elementary participate in a mock trial.

The start of summer means the end of school, and the conclusion of another successful year for Project LEAD, the office’s law-related education program. 

The 20-week curriculum, developed in conjunction with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, teaches fifth-grade students about the criminal justice system and the importance of making good decisions. 

For the 2015-16 school year, Project LEAD reached more than 2,200 students in 73 classrooms across 46 Los Angeles County schools. More than 173 prosecutors, investigators and other criminal justice professionals volunteered to work with the students. 

This year, as part of the United States Department of Justice’s Violence Reduction Network, Project LEAD was taught at three schools in the Compton Unified School District. The initiative is focused on bringing together local and federal resources to combat chronic and violent crime. 

Fourteen deputy district attorneys and investigators primarily from the Compton Branch Office, the Compton Juvenile Office and the Hardcore Gang Division in Compton taught the program at McKinley, Washington and Rosecrans elementary schools. 

Research shows that students who complete the Project LEAD curriculum gain a solid respect for authority figures and “protective factors” that help them stay out of trouble.

Since 1993, more than 30,000 fifth-graders have completed the program.

For more information on Project LEAD, go to http://projectlead.lacounty.gov.

Did You Know...?

The first court sessions in Los Angeles County were held in private homes and, from August 1850 to January 1852, in rented rooms at the Bella Union Hotel. The three-judge Court of Sessions had judicial authority over the newly organized county. The Bella Union Hotel, located on Main Street near Temple Street, is considered Los Angeles’ first hotel and was the heart of the city’s civic center.
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office | (213) 974-3512  | info@da.lacounty.gov


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