The Center for Policing Equity Announces the Release of a New CPE Justice Navigator Assessment for Los Angeles County’s Sheriff’s Department

Los Angeles, CA — Today, the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) are releasing Justice Navigator Assessments (JNAs) for eight of LASD’s substations: Carson, Century, Compton, East LA, Industry, Lakewood, South LA, and Temple. CPE and LASD previously collaborated on the JNAs for the West Hollywood Station in 2023 and Lancaster and Palmdale Stations in 2025. These JNAs are data-driven analyses that identify racial disparities in police interactions, provide an opportunity for departmental policy and organizational change, and set the stage for practical conversations with community members.

The assessments of LASD-provided policing data are housed within CPE’s Justice Navigator, an interactive digital platform that gives communities and law enforcement agencies streamlined access to public safety analysis, policy insights, and community resources. Policing data are analyzed in the Justice Navigator and the assessments that CPE produces are made available to the public. 

Given the diversity of the communities served by the department, CPE conducted a localized analysis of LASD policing data, resulting in 11 JNAs spanning a period from 2017 to 2023. This approach allowed for a deeper analysis of public safety concerns and relationships between police and community members. It is also worth noting that since the assessment period, new LASD leadership has updated key departmental policies and procedures and expanded non-police alternative responses while prioritizing racial equity initiatives. CPE commends LASD for their commitment to improving equity and public safety in the communities they serve.  

The assessments provide actionable recommendations for LASD and a clear baseline to measure progress. Findings include: 

• There were no racial disparities found in pedestrian search rates in six of the eight stations (Carson, Lakewood, East LA, South LA, Temple, and Industry). 
• At all eight stations, when deputies use force, they’re typically using the lowest levels of force (i.e., holds and takedowns).
• In seven of the eight stations (excluding the East LA Station), the most frequent call type was for public assistance, such as removing roadway obstructions, reporting lost or found property, or animal complaints. This presents an opportunity for LASD to divert these types of calls to alternative responders or to shift calls to other county or municipal employees such as public works.  
• At seven of the eight stations (excluding the Lakewood Station), Black and Latinx drivers were stopped more often for non-moving violations, while White people were more often stopped for moving violations. Deprioritizing non-moving violation stops, dozens of other municipalities across the country have done, could reduce use of force and other negative outcomes without jeopardizing public safety.
• In all eight station patrol areas, deputies used force against Black people at disproportionately higher rates relative to their share of the population. While new LASD leadership has updated policies and procedures since the assessment period, especially regarding the use of force, there remains room for improvement to prevent unnecessary or disparate outcomes. 
• In six of the eight stations (excluding Carson and Lakewood), deputies conducted discretionary searches of Black and Latinx drivers more often than White people. Deputies used force on community members much more often at non-moving violation stops and stops that involved discretionary searches than at moving violation stops and stops that did not involve discretionary searches.

“I would like to express my thanks to Sheriff Robert G. Luna and the team at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It takes a certain amount of courage and a true desire for improvement to subject your data to this level of scrutiny,” said Michael Burbank, Vice President of Law Enforcement Initiatives at CPE. “The findings from the Justice Navigator Assessments revealed racial disparities as well as opportunities for improvements.  CPE is excited to continue its engagement with LASD’s Office of Constitutional Policing to learn more about how the department intends to continue addressing racial equity in the future.”