Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department

Joe Shalmoni  |   OW Guest Contributor
Dec 16 2010

Like the first Black firefighter, he serves the city with distinction

Nov. 19, 2010, marked the 115th year anniversary of the death of Sam Haskins, the city’s first firefighter killed in the line of duty. Haskins’ sacrifice was forgotten for more than a century and not included in the line-of-duty deaths until 2002, when the details of his life resurfaced. 

Haskins was a former slave born in Virginia in Feb. 1846.  In 1880, 15 years after the Civil War, Haskins, then a free man, made the cross-country journey to Los Angeles. He was joined by former slave and good friend George Warner.  

Dec 15 2010

Men's Central Jail

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Seven Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been relieved of duty pending an investigation into a brawl at a Christmas party, a sheriff's spokesman said today.

The party, held Friday at the Quiet Cannon banquet hall in Montebello was for deputies who work at Men's Central Jail. About 11:30 p.m., a fight broke out, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. He said he thought it happened outside the hall.

Dec 13 2010

Lowest since 1975

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The number of homicides over the past 12 months in Los Angeles County is down 12.5 percent compared to the same period last year, the sheriff's department reported today.

Between November 2009 and November 2010, 169 homicides had been reported, compared to 191 over the previous 12 months, continuing a trend that has seen a 50 percent drop in murders over the past five years.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the number of annual is the lowest since 1975.

Marisol Aguilar  |   OW Contributor
Nov 11 2010

Program works to make a difference

In an effort to reduce the rate of crime among adolescents and prevent young offenders from becoming habitual lawbreakers, the City of Lancaster has operated Teen Court in the Antelope Valley for the past 15 years.

The award-winning program is an alternative diversion activity where minors are able to act as jurors in teen trials that are usually cases which the investigating detective and the supervising probation officer have deemed as qualified for “Teen Court.”

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 11 2010

Coroners office says it was against clear orders

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office and Sheriff’s Department are in disagreement about whether or not protocol was violated, regarding the handling of Mitrice Richardson’s remains.

The coroners office says Sheriff’s deputies may have violated the law and undermined the entire investigation, when they moved the remains found in August without the coroner’s permission.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.