Kim Baldonado reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

Los Angeles County has released approximately 1,700 inmates to lessen the inmate population during the COVID-19 crisis, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday. With these releases, the county’s jail population was lowered by about 10%, according to Villanueva. The update comes after the first California State Prison inmate tested positive for the coronavirus in Lancaster on Sunday. He has been in isolation...

Responding to coronavirus concerns, the sheriff’s department has taken active steps to reduce the inmate population at jail facilities, essentially releasing people with less than 30 days left on their sentences, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday. “We’re protecting that population from potential exposure,” he said. “This is about being prepared, not scared.” Since Feb. 28, inmate levels have dropped from 17,076...

Almost all courts in the state have stopped hearing cases. Eric Leonard reported on NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s civilian oversight panel has agreed to examine the agency’s policies on taking photographs at crime and accident scenes in response to the controversy over deputies sharing photos of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others. Sheriff Alex Villanueva asked the Office of the Inspector General to begin an...

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he ordered eight deputies to delete graphic photos of the helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, Bryant’s daughter and seven others to avoid the risk of the photos being shared and possibly becoming public.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Compton Councilman Isaac Galvan will host the sheriff’s department’s first Black History Month Celebration to honor “African American Heritage from Past to Present” Saturday in Compton. The event will run from 1-4 p.m. at the Compton Career Link Center’s rear parking lot, 700 N. Bullis Road, according to the sheriff’s department. It...

A judge upheld an $8.1 million jury award Tuesday for a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who said he was subjected to harassing conduct and retaliation for questioning the accuracy of his trainers’ police reports and their reasons for making some traffic stops. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason denied motions by lawyers for the county for a new…

A distraught mother duck couldn’t get to her ducklings below after they fell into a storm drain, but members of the Los Angeles County Fire and University Police departments came to the rescue of the adorable babies Tuesday.

A man was in custody Wednesday for allegedly killing his 64-year-old roommate, whose body was found in a dumpster near the El Monte mobile home park where they lived, police reported. David Lemus-Orellana, 22, was booked on suspicion of murder in thedeath of Florinda Velasquez-Hernandez, and was being held on $1 million bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s…

Authorities Tuesday said a statewide effort to combat human trafficking netted more that 500 arrests for various criminal violations and resulted in the rescue of 76 adults and 11 children. The multi-agency effort, dubbed “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild,” wasconducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, and included personnel from the LosAngeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, said Los Angeles County…

A fundraiser for a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective killed as she helped a couple cross a San Fernando Valley street is scheduled for Tuesday at the station where she worked in West Hollywood. An In-N-Out burger, chips and a drink will be offered for $10 in a fundraising effort hosted by the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station to support...

Sheriff’s investigators Wednesday were working to identify whoever vandalized more than two dozen vehicles overnight in Calabasas. “They’ve all been 9s and 6s. They’ve been slashing tires and broke a door handle on one, dented a quarter panel so they’re damaging them besides the paint,” said Gary Adelstein of Cook’s Corner Auto Body. His shop offered to fix the...

The bomb squad has been called to an Army surplus store in Newhall to detonate a device that was reported Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Valley station.

In the planned $90 million suit, she claims authorities failed to notify campers of shootings in the area where her husband was killed while camping with their children. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 5 Jan. 15, 2019.

A burglar is in jail after police say he broke into at least nine homes in Irvine. Vikki Vargas reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.

George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was a key figure in the FBI’s Russia probe, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Democrat Katie Hill. Papadopoulos didn’t immediately comment, but on Sunday he tweeted, “I love my state too much to see it run down by candidates like Hill. All talk, no...