Which Way, L.A.?

LAPD Releases Statistics on Racial Profiling

Charges of racism led to a federal consent decree requiring the LAPD to collect statistics on how members of different groups are treated. The first report has just been released. It shows that LA cops stop blacks, whites and Latinos in rough proportion to their share of the population, but that blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to be actually searched. Records of pedestrian stops show a similar pattern. Does that prove racial profiling? Mayor Hahn and Chief Bratton say it-s too soon to tell. We get two different views from Charles Rappleye, staff writer for the LA Weekly, and LA City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. We also hear about the Police Commission-s new policy on ordering cops not to respond to burglar alarms. Newsmaker: Legislators Seek to Save Coastal Commission Legislators are lining up to rescue the California Coastal Commission, which has been ruled in violation of the State Constitution by an appellate court because it gave the Legislature too much authority over what was created as an independent body. Democratic Assemblywoman Hanna-Beth Jackson, who represents Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, reports on the plan to save the 30 year-old commission. Reporter-s Notebook: Rent Increase Could Force Leimert Park Businesses to Close Since the 1980-s, shop owners have turned Leimert Park Village into a vital center for African-American music, theater, poetry readings and art. Now, a new landlord has doubled the rents on one stretch of Crenshaw-area storefronts. One artist who-s moving out says, -It-s like something is dying.- Clint Rosemond, executive director of the World Stage Performance Gallery, explains the efforts underway to save the cultural treasure.