Washington state Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency late on Wednesday after a deadly storm blew down trees, triggered mudslides and left thousands of people without power, NBC News reported. 

The decision activated the state's National Guard and cleared the way for state officials to ramp up aid for those suffering storm damage, according to NBC affiliate KING5.

"Many roads are closed from downed trees, active power lines, flood waters," Snohomish County Fire Chief Merlin Halverson said Wednesday. "It's a hell of (a) mess here."

Several rivers overflowed after Tuesday's storm dumped more rain over already-saturated western Washington. 

A California officer was fatally shot Wednesday night in what investigators described as a botched robbery attempt in the Downey Police Department parking lot, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators.

Two adults and a juvenile were in custody in connection with the slaying after a pursuit and manhunt in the nearby community of Montebello. Details regarding their identities were not immediately available.

The officer gunned down at about 11 p.m. Wednesday was identified as 29-year-old Ricky Galvez, a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and joined the police department in 2006 as a police aide. He was hired as an officer in the community southeast of downtown Los Angeles in March 2010.

"One of Downey's finest was shot and killed," said Chief Carl Charles. "He was a tremendous young man. His smile and professionalism were always on display. ... Words cannot express the love we have for Ricky."

Galvez was at the end of his shift and in his personal car in the parking lot when two individuals approached, said Lt. John Corina, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Galvez had been participating in a K9 training program, in which he served as a "bite agitator," and was not in his police uniform at the time, according to police.

"They ran up on his car," Corina said.

It was not immediately clear how many rounds were fired. Galvez died at the scene.

The attackers likely did not realize Galvez was a police officer, Corina said. A handgun was recovered at the site of the shooting, he said.

Another officer in a patrol vehicle heard the gunfire and saw a driver speeding away, leading to a pursuit that ended in the Montebello area and a search for the attackers, Corina said.

At least five people were detained early Thursday during the manhunt in the Montebello, about five miles north of Downey, authorities said. SWAT members were part of a search in the 1000 block of Carob Way, where residents were ordered out of at least one house with their hands up.

It was not immediately clear whether the three individuals in custody were apprehended during the early morning SWAT operation. Corina said the shooting was the result of a "botched robbery attempt."

"It looks like these guys were looking for someone to rob," Corina said of the suspects.

SWAT members left the search area in Montebello at about 7 a.m. Resident William Macareno arrived home during the overnight manhunt to find streets were blocked in what he described as a tense situation.

"I called my cousin who was already here, and when he came outside they drew guns on him," Macareno said. "They told him to hang up the phone, and they told him to go back inside."

Macareno told NBC4 that a girlfriend of one of the attackers lives in the neighborhood. The woman was transported from the location in a police patrol car, Macareno said. Police did not immediately confirm that information.

The coroner removed the body, draped under a U.S. flag, from the parking lot at about 10 a.m. Thursday. Officers and other colleagues lined the path to the coroner's van. A Downey Fire Department truck with a large U.S. flag hanging from the end of the extended ladder was parked near the crime scene.

The Downey Police Department has not reported a death involving an officer in the line of duty since a fatal 1981 traffic collision.

Refresh this developing story for updates.

NBC4's Nyree Arabian and Corey Arvin contributed to this report.

Upper Fifth Avenue is the most expensive retail corridor in the world by a long shot.

A square foot of retail space on the world famous avenue was priced at $3,500 through the first half of this year -- nearly twice as much as Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, which was No. 2 on a list released Wednesday by global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

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Fifth Avenue was the most expensive global retail location last year as well. Causeway Bay was the most expensive in 2013, with Fifth Avenue in second place that year.

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Fifth Avenue's success is buoyed by heavy foot traffic from tourists in the area, according to the report.

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During the second quarter of 2015, rents on the stretch reached $3,500 per square foot, an increase of 3.6 percent over 2014 and 46 percent higher than second-place Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, where a square foot of space costs $2,399.

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The "Main Streets Across the World" report looks at the top 500 retail streets across the globe. This was the 27th edition of the report, which shows that rents have risen in 35 percent of the top 500 streets across the globe.

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Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive corridor had the highest retail rents outside of New York at $800 per sq. ft. Chicago's Michigan Avenue had average retail rents of $525 per sq. ft.

The top 10 retail corridors in the world:

1. Fifth Avenue (New York) - $3,500/sq. ft./year

2. Causeway Bay (Hong Kong) - $2,399/ sq. ft./year

3. Avenue des Champs Élysées (Paris) - $1,372/sq. ft./year

4. New Bond Street (London) - $1,321/sq. ft./year

5. Via Montenapoleone (Milan) - $1,035/sq. ft./year

6. Bahnhofstrasse (Zurich) - $894.6/sq. ft./year

7. The Ginza (Tokyo) - $881.9/sq. ft./year

8. Myeongdong (Seoul) - $881.8/sq. ft./year

9. Kohlmarket (Vienna) - $478.2/sq. ft./year

10. Kaufinger / Neuhauser (Munich) - $459.6/sq. ft./year

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The lone survivor of an attack that left six dead at an East Texas campsite has told authorities that the suspect had drinks with the blended family before suddenly producing a gun and firing on them.

An arrest warrant provided Wednesday by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office reveals that 33-year-old William Hudson was drinking with the group Saturday when he accompanied four of them into surrounding woods.

The warrant says Cynthia Johnson told sheriff's deputies that she heard gunshots before Hudson returned alone to the campsite and chased her husband and daughter into a travel camper, where he shot them.

Johnson ran into the woods and eventually made a 911 call.

Hudson is being held on $2.5 million bond. It wasn't clear Wednesday whether he has an attorney.

Surveillance footage emerged Thursday showing a gunman opening fire at one of the restaurants targeted during last week's coordinated ISIS-linked attacks in Paris, NBC News reported. 

A man and woman can be seen chatting on one camera monitoring the bar area of the Casa Nostra cafe, when shattering glass rains down on them and they duck for cover.

On a second camera facing out from the bar, a diner can be seen diving while their companion pulls their arms up, remaining static at the table. A third camera facing the bar captures a diner crawl under a table for cover.

Outside, a man carrying a gun can be seen looking around before walking out of view.

The footage was obtained by DailyMail.com.

Very few eyes were dry Wednesday night as the father of a 19-year-old college student who vanished days ago, possibly with a gun, spoke publicly for the first time since his son's disappearance.

"You have no reason not to come home," Dr. Jon Marberger said, addressing his missing son at a vigil Wednesday in Abington, Pennsylvania. "Please come home and show yourself. Jacob, wherever you are and whatever discretions you have done they are all recoverable."

Jacob Marberger has been missing since early Monday, when he made the two-hour drive from Washington College in Maryland, where he studies, to his parents' home in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. He arrived after 3 a.m. Monday but was gone by 4 a.m., taking a rifle case with him. His parents said they were unsure whether a gun was inside.

His disappearance has prompted alerts at both Washington College, which will be closed through the week of Thanksgiving, and his former school, Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, which went into lockout mode Tuesday and remains on alert.

His father was one of about 75 people who gathered at the Beth Am Temple on Old York Road in Abington Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil. The attendees sang songs, prayed and pleaded for Jacob Marberger to come home.

Jon Marberger told NBC10 the trouble began on Oct. 7 when his son was the victim of a prank that left him hurt and humiliated by his fellow students at Washington College.

"Someone had placed a trash can full of water against his dorm room door, so when he opened the door, the water came into his room,” said Washington College public safety director Jerry Roderick. "He felt very hurt by that and he saw this as (people) reaching out to ridicule him in some way. In speaking to Jacob, he did feel persecuted by several students on campus."

Two days later, Jacob Marberger, who began collecting unique guns about a year ago, brandished an unloaded, antique rifle in front of some other students while intoxicated, according to officials.

"He’s not a kid who got high or drank regularly and then you do foolish things when you’re drunk, especially the first time," Jon Marberger said.

About two weeks later, Jacob Marberger was suspended after police found the antique weapon at a house off campus. He returned to school only recently, after a forensic psychologist cleared him and determined he wasn’t a threat.

Jon Marberger said his son then spent a difficult week back on campus. He was kicked out of his fraternity, faced an Honor Board hearing and was confronted Sunday night by members of his student government group, according to his father. Jacob Marberger then resigned his elected position as speaker of the senate.

"Just because he’s made so few mistakes in his life, I don’t think he knows how to deal with that, the shame he feels when one lets themselves down," Jon Marberger said.

After his cellphone was pinged, Jacob Marberger was spotted on surveillance video around 7 a.m. Monday buying five rounds of ammunition at a Wal-Mart in Hamburg, Berks County. His cellphone has registered no activity since 7:30 a.m. Monday, investigators said.

During his interview with NBC10 Wednesday night, Jacob Marberger insisted his son was not a threat even as his college remains on alert.

"He made no threats to anyone," Jon Marberger said. "I think he just wanted to climb into a hole. But he’s never made any threats to anyone, never hit anyone. He would never strike out to anyone."

Fighting back tears, Jon Marberger begged for his son to return. 

"We want him back. We want to see him again. We love him. Everyone loves him," he pleaded.

If you have any information on Jacob Marberger’s whereabouts, call Washington College at 410-778-7810 or Chestertown police at 410-778-1800.

Multiple Syrians have been detained trying to gain entry into the United States, including eight at the Texas border, according to the Department of Homeland Security and a report from Breitbart News.

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement to NBC confirming two Syrian families were taken into custody Tuesday, but clarified that they families weren't trying to "sneak in."

DHS confirms that on Tuesday, members of two Syrian families, two men, two women and four children, presented themselves at a port of entry in Laredo. They were taken into custody by CBP and turned over to ICE for further processing. The two adult women and four children were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The two men from these families are being held at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall Texas. Due to privacy issues, no additional information will be provided at this time.

• Bush Calls for Ground Troops Surge to Defeat ISIS

According to the article, two Customs and Border Protection agents told Breitbart Texas eight Syrians were detained at the Texas-Mexico border in Laredo on Monday.

Hector Garza, president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455, told Breitbart that Border Patrol agents have been contacting his organization regarding reports of other Syrians crossing into Texas through Laredo, but that he could not confirm whether any had actually crossed. With no direct flights from Syria to Texas, refugees often fly to Mexico, or another Central American country, and then make their way into the states through border crossings.

A Syrian migrant was stopped in Hidalgo in September trying to use her sister-in-law's American passport to get into the country, Breitbart reported.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shared the article on his Facebook and Twitter accounts saying it supports his decision to no longer allow Syrian refugees into Texas.

Republican candidate for president Donald Trump also chimed in, saying this is why America needs a "big and beautiful wall."  

One of Trump's campaign promises is that he'd build a wall along the southern border and that he'd make Mexico pay for it.

Abbott and House Republicans have expressed concerned over the possibility Syrian refugees could pose a security threat to the country. Abbott is one of more than two dozen governors seeking to ban Syrian refugees from their states in the wake of Friday's deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are preparing to vote on suspending the program bringing Syrian refugees into the country; the Department of Homeland Security is expected to soon release a report on the crisis.

NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.

Two sisters who vanished from their suburban Minneapolis home two years ago were found Wednesday at a western Minnesota horse farm.

Gianna and Samantha Rucki disappeared from Lakeville in April 2013. They are now 16 and 17 years old. Authorities found them Wednesday "safe and in seemingly good health," according to police.

Authorities have since suspected a network of people were taking care of the girls and helping to keep them in hiding. Their parents were in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle when the sisters disappeared.

Police and U.S. marshals arrived with a search warrant at White Horse Ranch Wednesday afternoon in hopes of finding evidence, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, but instead found the subjects of their investigation.

The girls’ father told the Star Tribune authorities called him around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to say his daughters were found. Since then, David Rucki has been working to find a home for the girls so the family can be reunited.

Earlier this month, bail was set at $1 million for their mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, who was suspected of hiding the sisters from their custodial father. The 50-year-old Minnesota woman appeared in Dakota County court on three counts of deprivation of parental rights.

Grazzini-Rucki was charged in August by warrant and arrested last month by U.S. Marshals in Florida. She waived extradition and remains in Dakota County Jail.

Their mother’s arrest did not further the investigation, or provide any answers as to what happened to the sisters or if they were still alive. Her attorney said Grazzini-Rucki did not want her daughters to be found.

The network authorities believe helped hide the sisters is allegedly an underground group of people who are critical of the family court system, according to the Star Tribune.

White Horse Ranch’s website describes the compound as a nonprofit that aids abused children through work with horses, saying, "Broken children and hurting horses are able to bring each other to a place of healing through God’s unconditional love."

The ranch is about 160 miles outside Minneapolis. According to its website, founder Gina Dahlen and her husband, Doug, live on the ranch, the latter of whom told the Star Tribune Wednesday he was not allowed to comment on the case.

When they ran away in 2013, the teenagers accused their father of abusing them, according to the Star Tribune, but a psychologist ruled that there was no indication of abuse and instead their mother had brainwashed the children.

While in jail, Grazzini-Rucki maintains she had nothing to do with her daughter’s disappearance.

Three men have been arrested in the brutal cold-case slaying of a New Jersey school teacher found beaten to death in her home six years ago, prosecutors said.

James Fair, 27, Ebenezer Byrd, 35, and Gregory Jean-Baptiste, 26, all of Asbury Park, face felony murder, first-degree robbery, conspiracy and other charges in the death of Jonelle Melton, who was found beaten in her Neptune City apartment on Sept. 14, 2009.

The 33-year-old Melton had been preparing to move from Red Bank Middle School's seventh-grade classrooms to her new job as the school's fifth-grade teacher. When she failed to show up to her job or answer phone calls, a family member went to Melton's West Sylvania Avenue apartment and found her body.

Prosecutors said in August they believed they were closing in on the alleged killers after developing new information in the years-old case. Officials said Fair, Byrd and Jean-Baptiste had planned to burglarize a specific apartment in the Brighton Arms complex where Melton lived. They broke into the wrong apartment and encountered Melton, according to prosecutors.

At some point, after realizing they were in the wrong apartment, "the men brutally murdered" Melton, according to prosecutors.

A veteran teacher, Melton was an active member of the school community, participating on school improvement and leadership teams, and had been selected to serve as a student council adviser.

"Children loved her in school, we loved her," said an emotional Rachael Haslon, the victim's sister. "She was my baby sister." 

The three men charged in her death are all incarcerated on unrelated charges. Fair is awaiting trial on a 219-count indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder, robbery and other drug and weapons offenses stemming from a 2014 gang takedown. Byrd is currently serving a 12-year state prison sentence for two Asbury Park shootings in 2009. Jean-Baptiste is awaiting trial on three separate indictments charging him with drug distribution and gun possession.

They're each being held on $1.5 million cash bail. As Fair left court Thursday, he only offered a defiant statement of "not guilty." 

If convicted of felony murder, the top charge against them in the Melton case, the men each face up to a life sentence in New Jersey state prison.

"This has been a nightmare for over six years," said Mike Melton, Jonelle's brother. "My family and I have been through a lot of grief and trauma." 

At Red Bank Middle School, Melton has not been forgotten. 

"She was a great loss," said principal Maria Iozzi. "She continues to be a great loss. She's deeply missed." 

A bomb squad at Los Angeles International Airport cleared a JetBlue plane of any threat Thursday morning after an unauthorized person tried to gain access to the aircraft through a passenger boarding bridge, airport officials said.

Airport police said they received a call about 6 a.m. PST of a person in the Terminal 3, Gate 31B jet bridge, which is a secured ramp passengers use to get from the terminal gate to the parked plane.

JetBlue Flight 24 was scheduled to depart at 6:30 a.m. from that gate for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. There were no passengers or crew on board when the person was spotted on the bridge, LAX officials said.

The flight was delayed and the plane was moved to the airfield's west end for inspection.

"Out of an abundance of caution, aircraft and luggage onboard flight 24 from LAX to JFK are being rescreened following a potential security issue," JetBlue said in a statement.

The plane and luggage were cleared at 10:15 a.m., and the aircraft was towed back to Terminal 3, airport officials said. The flight had been rescheduled to depart at 9:30 a.m.

"Airport Police is continuing the investigation and is coordinating with JetBlue officials to identify the unauthorized person," LAX officials said.

Robert Pedregon of the LAX Police Department said there was no security breach, but the incident was under investigation.

No one was taken into custody.

No other flights were disrupted by the incident, airport officials said.

A woman was shot in the stomach at a motel in San Ysidro Thursday, San Diego police confirmed.

The shooting happened overnight at the Knight’s Inn at 230 Via De San Ysidro. Investigators said a woman was asleep inside her room when a man knocked on her door. When she opened the door, he shot her in the stomach.

The man then fled, driving away in a four-door sedan. A security guard spotted the sedan driving away, but did not get a good look at the suspect, who remains at large.

The incident is under investigation. Police said the shooting may linked to some sort of blackmail, but it is unknown if the suspect and victim know each other.

The victim was taken to a local hospital where she underwent surgery. Beyond that, her condition is unknown. Her name was not released.
 

A San Diego man was convicted Tuesday by a federal jury of manufacturing and passing counterfeit money by “bleaching” or “washing” the bills and printing them with a higher face value.

Jermaine Harris was found guilty on one count of counterfeiting and forging U.S. obligations and one count of passing counterfeit obligations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

On Nov. 15, 2014, San Diego Police Department (SDPD) arrested one person linked to passing fake currency at the Fashion Valley Mall. The United States Secret Service, Regional Task Force, and SDPD discovered a counterfeit currency manufacturing plant at a hotel in Mission Valley on Nov. 16, 2014.

According to authorities, Harris and five other people “bleached” or “washed” the ink off of legitimate small denomination U.S. bill and then printed a higher denomination on them.

Inside the hotel room, U.S. Secret Service Agents found bleaching solutions, printers and various tools that replicate the security features found on genuine U.S. currency along with partially completed and completed counterfeit bills.

The face value for the manufactured counterfeit bills and the ones the group passed exceeded $16,000.

Alexander Eibeck, Sopeap Muk, Nicole Cortes, Meghan Ripley, and Ashley Contreras were sentenced already after pleading guilty.

Harris will be sentenced next year on Feb. 19.
 

One supermarket chain is already starting the transition to take over Haggen locations in San Diego County.

Gelson’s Market, a Los Angeles area-based chain, was renovating the former Haggen store in Del Mar on Wednesday to prepare to open in January.

Gelson’s is among a number of chains taking over two dozen Haggen stores in the San Diego area. The company, which currently operates 18 stores, bid on three Haggens here, including locations in La Jolla and Carlsbad.

The bidding process started after Haggen announced it was departing from California, shuttering many locations in San Diego County.

Other stores that have made bids include Albertsons, Smart & Final, 99 Ranch Market and Bristol Farms.

Gelson’s expects to open the La Jolla store sometime in February; the chain hasn’t secured the Carlsbad yet.

The company started in Burbank in 1951 and is known for its upscale atmosphere, restaurant quality meats and produce along with other higher end products.

So how can Gelson’s succeed where Haggen failed? Rob McDougall, Gelson’s CEO, said he plans to reach out in the community and hire back former Haggen employees.

Still, McDougall said his company recognizes the shopper makes the final decision.

“I have no doubt they’ll come in at least the grand opening and check out our hot prices and different things,” he said. “And then we have to win them over from that.”

San Diego State University refuses to release any information about the discipline imposed on a faculty member who sexually harassed at least three female students.

In response to a California Public Records Act request submitted to the university last week by NBC 7 Investigates, SDSU declined to provide information about the disciplinary status of Vincent Martin.

Martin is a Spanish professor at SDSU. He became the subject of an NBC 7 Investigates story after he was accused of sending hundreds of suggestive text messages to a young female student, violating the state education code, according to SDSU investigative documents.

One of his victims says she is angry about the university’s refusal to release details about Martin’s discipline.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” the student said. “I expected them to protect the professor over the student. I feel tenure protected him from the start.” This student said she feels Martin’s victims have, from the beginning, been denied important information about the investigative and discipline process.

Click here to view the investigative series.

The university said documents referencing Martin’s discipline “…constitute [Martin’s] personnel records” and that in this case, the “balancing test” SDSU uses to determine if it should release a document “weighs in favor of nondisclosure.”

NBC 7 Investigates submitted a detailed follow-up request for information on Nov. 11, but has not received a reply from the university.

Click here to view the letter from NBC 7 Investigates.

One advocate for public disclosure said SDSU’s denial is not legally persuasive.

Terry Francke, general counsel for CalAware, said a 2012 decision by a state appeals court found that the investigative report and letter of reprimand imposed on a Los Angeles-area teacher for violating his school’s sexual harassment policy was “subjected to disclosure and not a matter [of that teacher’s] personal privacy.”

Last March, SDSU denied a similar request from NBC 7 Investigates seeking information about discipline imposed on Martin.
 

Defense Secretary Ash Carter agreed with French president Francois Hollande and said the United States is at war with ISIS in an interview airing Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Asked by host Joe Scarborough whether he agrees with French President François Hollande that "we're at war with ISIS," Carter replies, "Yeah."

"I think Francois Hollande has said it very well," Carter says. "I'm glad the French are galvanized in joining the fight now." 

Under Article One, Section Eight, of the U.S. Constitution, Congress, not the executive, is the branch of the federal government with authority to formally declare war.

A year after California voters passed Proposition 47, a measure allowing certain drug possession felonies to be reduced to misdemeanors, prison populations have decreased, courts are struggling to handle re-offenders and the promised money savings is still to come.

Approved Nov. 4, 2014, Prop 47 changed some low-level felonies into misdemeanors in an effort to reform the criminal justice system. It also requires misdemeanor sentencing for certain crimes including petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging/writing bad checks when the amount is $950 or less.

After a year in place, Prop 47 has reduced the prison population, but critics say it has some unintended consequences that undermine the effectiveness of tried and true crime-fighting tactics and has allowed drug offenders to skip out of much-needed rehab programs.

They are talking about offenders like Corey Whiteley. The 46-year-old has a criminal record in San Diego dating back to 1990.

On Oct. 1, 2014, Whiteley was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and pleaded guilty.

Normally a felony, the crime was reclassified under Prop 47 and was reduced to a misdemeanor.

Two months later, he was arrested again -- on two separate occasions: once on Dec. 16 for possession of drug paraphernalia and again on Dec. 18 for being drunk in public.

“There is no increased punishment no matter how many times they get caught and arrested. It's very difficult to give them any substantial penalties,” San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Rachel Solov said.

Solov works on realignment-related issues, including Prop 47, for San Diego County.

She said if Whiteley's felony wasn't reduced to a misdemeanor under Prop 47, there would have been more programs and resources to get him into treatment.

“Now that many of these crimes are misdemeanors, there are not a lot of incentives for these offenders to participate in those courts, so that's made some challenges for us,” Solov said.

Former San Diego Police Department Chief William Lansdowne co-wrote Prop 47 and said he's proud of what it's accomplished.

“It's rebuilding lives, rebuilding people, and it's what this great state of California needs to do,” he said.

According to a report released last month by the Stanford Advocacy Project, a group that helped draft Prop 47, 13,000 inmates have been released from state prisons and jails since the measure passed. The report says the recidivism rate of state prisoners who were released early under Prop 47 is low; less than 5 percent of those released early have been convicted of a new crime.

Click here to read the report.

The numbers paint a different picture in San Diego.

According to the San Diego DA's office, 41,400 petitions from convicted felons seeking lower charges and sentences have been filed since the passage of Prop 47. So far the office has reviewed 13,000 of them and granted more than half, 7,831.

Of the San Diego defendants who have had their cases reduced under Prop 47, 22 percent committed either a misdemeanor or a felony again, according to the DA. That means one in five are picking up a new offense.

Solov said that’s a problem.

“It is a problem because any time that we continue to see an increase in recidivism or any time that we continue to have people break the law, even if they're misdemeanors, they affect our communities,” she said.

Lansdowne doesn’t see it that way and said Prop 47 is doing what it's supposed to do.

“It has given more space for people who are violent offenders to serve the whole time instead of being released early which makes us safer in the process,” he said. “San Diego is one that everyone is looking at now. Crime rates are staying pretty flat. In fact it's gone down slightly in this last year with the prop.”

Prop 47: Cost and Savings

Part of the Prop 47 proposal included the creation of a fund designed to give money to schools, crime victims and correctional programs including drug rehabilitation.

Supporters of the measure said it is projected to save hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. But others believe additional costs are being incurred because low-level criminals are cycling in and out of the justice system.

The fund is called the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund. Under Prop 47 it was designed to receive appropriations based on the savings accrued in a fiscal year, as compared to the previous year.

According to a recent ACLU report, savings is expected to reach up to $200 million by 2017 and should be reinvested into the community, starting next year.

Click here to read the ACLU report.

Lansdowne said this savings makes Prop 47 a cost-saving success.

“That money will go to victim services, K through 12, and 64 percent goes to where we desperately need it: people that have mental health issues or drug issues," the former chief said. "For the first time we are going to see some real money invested in treatment but it's back-loaded. We could do it any other way; there wasn't any money until Prop 47.”

Solov said even with the savings, repeat offenders are putting a strain on the criminal justice system. “It remains to be seen how much additional money is spent on these cases continuing to recycle through our system,” she said, “how much additional money it's actually going to cost across our court systems, how much it's going to cost our jails and our law enforcement for responding. You know if you think about it, every time someone comes through this system, there's a dollar amount attached to it whether or not they do a long jail period.”

Before Prop 47 those facing a felony drug charge were given a choice: go to prison or participate in drug court, which usually meant 18 months of mandatory drug testing and treatment.

According to the DA’s office, to avoid a longer prison sentence, many offenders chose drug court and entered into treatment. Solov said that changed after Prop 47. Without the threat of a felony, there was little incentive to get treatment.

“For the most part what we have seen is that these offenders who don't want treatment would rather do their time in custody, than participate in the program,” Solov said.

Lansdowne said the measure is not the problem. He said he believes the number of "frequent flyers" can be reduced, but the court system needs to make changes.

“The DA, the police, the judges, the courts, all need to work together to come up with solutions that are more effective in treatment and reducing the constant re-incarceration that people have,” he said. “If someone is consistently offending, like 19 cases, we can sentence that person consecutively.”

As for Whiteley, his arrest pattern continued in 2015.

According to Solov, had Whiteley's original arrest remained a felony, his path could have been different. Whiteley would have served more time in custody or been given the option of intensive treatment required to graduate from drug court.

Instead, according to court documents, he was arrested Jan. 10, Jan. 21, Jan. 26, March 25, March 29, May 12 , May 20 and May 23. He then spent about three months in custody. After he was released, he was arrested again on Aug. 18, Sept. 18, Sept. 25, Oct. 4, and on Oct. 19 for being under the influence and resisting arrest.

NBC7 Investigates spoke to Whiteley's brother who said Whiteley was "currently incarcerated" and is “a grown man...a capable body, but making bad choices."

The suspected ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid on Wednesday, the prosecutor's office said Thursday, NBC News reported. 

The 27-year-old Belgian jihadist, who was also linked to two other terror plots and once boasted about avoiding capture by Western intelligence agencies, died during the operation in Saint-Denis. He was identified by his fingerprints. Officials said his body was bullet-ridden.

He died along with a woman who blew herself up with a suicide belt, and another man, when elite police forces stormed the scene. Eight other people were arrested.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve later said that Abaaoud was involved in four of the six attacks foiled by French intelligence agents since this spring.

A source close to the investigation told Reuters that the dead female bomber killed might have been Abaaoud's cousin. NBC News was unable to independently verify that report.

Black Friday is becoming a month-long deal.

Amazon's sales begin this Friday and continue through next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and what was once the start of the holiday shopping season. Target and Walmart are offering holiday discounts throughout the month, while Best Buy is holding "pre-Black Friday" weekends.

What was traditionally a single day of shopping already stretches over the weekend and now retailers are trying to extend the extravaganza even further by discounting goods long before the holiday. What that will mean to Black Friday sales is something analysts will be watching for.

"It remains to be seen how significant the event itself is," said Traci Gregorski, vice president of marketing at the retail research firm Market Track.

Tis the season for holiday sales and strategies for capturing shoppers dollars.

Black Friday spending was down last year, the second drop in a row, according to the National Retail Federation. Spending though the weekend in stores and online dropped 11 percent from $57.4 billion in 2013 to $50.9 billion last year. The decline is partly the result of the earlier bargains, leaving Black Friday with less of a punch.

But for all the debate over store hours -- and at one end is Kmart, open on Thanksgiving morning at 6 a.m., and at the other REI, the outdoor gear supplier that will stay closed on Black Friday itself --  for shoppers the season means deals. They are scouting for the best prices before ever stepping inside a store, Gregorski said. They are driving competition among retailers who know their potential customers are online comparing ads.

“They do have a lot of information at their disposal, much more than they’ve ever had in the past,” she said.

On Friday, Tanya Jackson, a hair stylist from New Jersey, will be on the hunt for a washing machine and dryer at Home Depot where she expects to save $800.

“Oh yes, I already checked,” said Jackson, 42, who lives in Orange and who was making her way through New York City's Herald Square on a recent weekday morning. She is prepared to pay about $2,800.

Thanksgiving Day hours continue to court controversy, with some shoppers vowing to stay home and labor and other groups protesting the disruption to workers' holiday.

"l'm always with my family," said Kendall Castillo, a 19-year-old student studying theater and fine arts in college in New York City. Even the lure of good deals will not interrupt his holiday.

And Naysika Oree, a health-care consultant from the Bronx, has never shopped on Black Friday, turned off by the crowds and reports of unruly shoppers. She will stay home this year too.

"I'd rather just spend the couple of extra dollars then have to go through the madness," she said.

This year, the federation's preliminary Thanksgiving Weekend Survey found that an estimated 135.8 millions shoppers, or 58.7 percent of those surveyed, said they might head to the stores at some point over the weekend. The findings were similar to the year before, when 133.7 million holiday shoppers were in stores and online over the weekend.

Black Friday is expected to be the biggest shopping day for all age groups, but young adults in particular find Cyber Monday appealing, according to the survey's results. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 88.7 percent said yes or maybe when asked if they would should online on Monday. Among 25- to 34-year-old, the number was 90.9 percent.

Kate Winchester, a 23-year-old college student in New York City from Pennsylvania, will among those shopping online. She needs a new vacuum cleaner and a heavy blanket.

"You don't have to wait in the lines," she said.

Plus now that stores open on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday is "not as exciting anymore," she said. "No one wants to go out on Thursday."

To draw shoppers back into the stores, in the hopes that they will spend more money there, some retailers are offering special holiday events, Gregorski said. Walmart for example is making the game Battlefront available to try out before its official launch.

"They’re introducing that experiential element into their promotions and events," she said. "It gives people a reason to come in."

As for what's hot this year, anything related to "Star Wars," game consoles and wearable technology, such as headphones and fitness trackers, she said. Drones are another top item.

Hoverboards, on the other hand, are not proving to be as popular as expected, likely because of their price, she said.

Other trends to watch for: exclusive partnerships between manufacturers and retailers and bundled offers, televisions and game consoles for example, which can make it difficult to determine how good a deal it is.

Milly Mladjenovic, 21, said she would definitely be out on Black Friday, shopping for work clothes and Christmas gifts.

"What am I not looking for?" she said.

The college student in New York City said deals could be found, but she thought bargains were better in years past.
 

A mother and her four children were able to safely escape a fire in their City Heights home Thursday after a neighbor alerted them to get out, officials said.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) said the blaze broke out around 5:20 a.m. at a home in the 4000 block of Winona Avenue. When crews arrived, heavy smoke had engulfed the exterior of the house, but the residents had managed to escape.

Officials said the family was not injured.

Firefighters were able to knock out the fire within 10 minutes. The cause is under investigation, but fire detectives believe it was an electrical fire. The blaze caused approximately $50,000 in damage.