LA Trooper Shot and Killed:  A Louisiana state trooper responding to reports of a possible intoxicated individual driving erratically, stopped Sunday afternoon to assist a man whose pickup truck had run into a ditch and was shot in the head when the man emerged from the truck with a sawed-off shotgun.  The trooper died of his injuries Monday morning.  Fox News reports that 43-year-old Senior Trooper Steven Vincent, a 13-year veteran of the state police, was shot by 54-year-old Kevin Daigle, a man whose record includes multiple DWIs and other arrests he refused to discuss.  The incident, caught on dash cam video, came to an end when two or three drivers stopped immediately, wrestled the gun out of Daigle's hands and handcuffed him with the officer's pair.  Daigle faces several charges, including first-degree murder of a police officer.  He is also being probed in the death of his roommate, found deceased on Monday, to determine whether he may have a connection to the homicide.

Last Month the Bloodiest in NY Jails:  New York City's jails surged with gang violence in the month of July, making it the bloodiest month behind bars in 15 years.  Reuven Blau of NY Daily News reports that records show a total of 21 slashings and one stabbing occurred last month in the facilities, with 16 of those incidents involving members of the Bloods, Crips or Latin Kings.  These figures have increased from last year, which only saw an average to seven slashings and stabbings in a month.  Prison officials believe that continued gang disputes on the streets are spilling over into the jails, and have also been openly critical of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte's reform to reduce the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement, which is thought to be contributing to the increased mayhem.

No Clear Answer for Crimes Spikes in U.S. Cities:  "There really is no particular reason," said LAPD's central division Captain Mike Oreb regarding Los Angeles' 12 percent spike in overall crime, with violent offenses rising more than 20 percent, a pattern that is resonating with major cities nationwide.  Haya El Nasser of Al Jazeera America reports that Los Angeles prosecutors and law enforcement officers are pointing fingers at a change in the crime reporting system and, most especially, to Prop. 47, a voter-approved initiative passed in November that downgrades certain felonies, including drug possession and theft, to misdemeanors.  However, Los Angeles does not stand alone in this trend, as Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, Dallas, St. Louis, San Antonio, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., are all reporting double-digit surges in murders in the first half of this year.  When asked if the numbers signify a reversal of decreasing crime trends the country has been experiencing for decades, president of the Police Foundation, Jim Bueermann, says "I don't think we really know."

Sex Offenders, Convicted Murderers Among CA Uber Drivers:  Uber, a ridesharing company that has given taxi drivers stiff competition, is accused of hiring drivers with criminal histories, including sex offenders and a convicted murderer, detailed in a consumer-protection lawsuit filed by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon.  Mario Sevilla of KRON 4 reports that the complaint says that among the drivers that passed Uber's self-described "industry leading" background check were several registered sex offenders, a kidnapper, identity thieves, burglars and a convicted murderer who was hired less than seven years after being paroled, going on to provide 1,168 rides.  Gascon says that the company cannot "unfairly claim it is rigorously checking the background of its drivers" unless those drivers are put through the same fingerprinting process required of taxi drivers in California.  An Uber spokeswoman voiced her disagreement with Gascon's complaint, claiming that the process used by taxi companies is not "an inherently better system for screening drivers than our background checks."