{"id":318,"date":"2026-05-08T21:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T21:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=318"},"modified":"2026-05-08T21:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T21:00:22","slug":"city-council-votes-to-limit-lapd-pretextual-stops-blamed-for-racial-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=318","title":{"rendered":"City Council votes to limit LAPD \u2018pretextual\u2019 stops blamed for racial discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of new restrictions on so-called \u201cpretextual\u201d traffic stops, signaling a growing impatience with the Police Commission\u2019s failure to rein in a controversial LAPD tactic that critics say enables racial discrimination.<\/p>\n

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The vote requests that the department\u2019s all-civilian watchdog adopt new guidelines similar to San Francisco, which bars police officers from pulling people over for broken taillights and other minor equipment violations unless there is a safety threat. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoard of Police Commissioners: Get this done; we\u2019re watching, no excuses,\u201d said Councilmember Imelda Padilla, who shared stories of her late father being stopped by police with no explanation. \u201cThis is what this generation wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the new policy were adopted, LAPD officers would be prohibited from stopping motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians for minor violations \u201cexcept in cases where the violation poses a significant and imminent safety risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unanimous vote followed sometimes emotional testimony at a City Council meeting from Angelenos about how their lives had been shaken by discriminatory traffic stops and searches.<\/p>\n

Several speakers pointed to a growing body of research showing that minor stops disproportionately affect Black and brown motorists and do little to combat violent crime while eroding public trust. In recent years, there have been several high-profile traffic stops that resulted in officers or drivers being killed. <\/p>\n

The current LAPD policy, in place since 2022, requires officers to record themselves on their body-worn cameras stating the reasons for suspecting a more serious crime had occurred when making a stop for a minor infraction. <\/p>\n

The measure passed Wednesday stops short of a categorical ban that some have sought, but was still met with cautious optimism by traffic safety reformers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps place the city of Los Angeles on a path of ending racial profiling by LAPD,\u201d said Chauncee Smith of Catalyst California, a group that advocates for racial justice. <\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s group recently released a report that said such stops have continued to disproportionately affect Black and Latino drivers.<\/p>\n

Smith said the new policy advanced by the City Council represents \u201ca more formal, explicit prohibition,\u201d adding that he hopes the Police Commission will ultimately give officers even less discretion in deciding when to make stops.<\/p>\n

In a brief statement after the vote, Mayor Karen Bass thanked Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of L.A. City Council, for his \u201cleadership and dedication in moving this updated policy forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI will work closely with the Police Commission and Chief [Jim] McDonnell to implement it and to provide officers with appropriate training,\u201d Bass said.<\/p>\n

Any changes to the policy will probably draw strong challenges from within the LAPD and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the powerful union that represents the city\u2019s rank-and-file officers. <\/p>\n

McDonnell has publicly defended the stops as an essential law enforcement tool in the department\u2019s fight against guns, gangs and drugs. He and some transportation safety advocates have argued that persistent traffic deaths \u2014 road fatalities have in recent years outpaced the number of homicides \u2014 indicate the city needs to crack down harder on reckless driving.<\/p>\n

The proposed change comes against the backdrop of a broader effort by city leaders to wrest greater oversight of the LAPD from the Police Commission. A spokesperson for the civilian body said it would evaluate how to proceed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board intends to place this item on a forthcoming agenda to enable a full and transparent discussion of the Department\u2019s pretextual stop policy, which will include the recommendations from the City Council,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n

In a statement, the LAPD chief said, \u201cI look forward to working with City leaders to strengthen our traffic enforcement strategies and improve public safety across Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect the City Council\u2019s interest on the issue of pretext stops and welcome the ongoing conversation. The United States Supreme Court has upheld these stops as constitutional, and they remain an important investigative tool in supporting our public safety efforts,\u201d McDonnell said, adding that he would \u201cfully engage\u201d with the Police Commission on the issue moving forward.<\/p>\n

The vote was the latest move in a broader push to remove police officers from traffic enforcement. Some advocates have argued that more punitive approaches that prioritize arrests and traffic citations do little to keep city streets safe; instead, they argue the city should invest in unarmed civilian workers and speed bumps, roundabouts and other street modifications that could help curb unsafe driving.<\/p>\n

Adrienna Wong, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said Wednesday\u2019s vote showed city leaders taking action on an issue that was personal to them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what you saw today in council was the council members have lived experiences and are hearing from their constituents and are voting to represent their constituents in a way that the Police Commission has not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more California county discovers trove of unopened ballots from last election in a locked box<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles City Council voted to limit ‘pretextual’ stops, which have been blamed for racial disparities in enforcement, calling on police oversight officials to quickly adopt new policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nCity Council votes to limit LAPD \u2018pretextual\u2019 stops blamed for racial discrimination - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=318\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City Council votes to limit LAPD \u2018pretextual\u2019 stops blamed for racial discrimination - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Los Angeles City Council voted to limit 'pretextual' stops, which have been blamed for racial disparities in enforcement, calling on police oversight officials to quickly adopt new policies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=318\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-08T21:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b85b48ca4c2015dd056e0e9c18912121\"},\"headline\":\"City Council votes to limit LAPD \u2018pretextual\u2019 stops blamed for racial discrimination\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-08T21:00:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b91b795e19e63fc8bb8c4ae9271291ad-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318\",\"name\":\"City Council votes to limit LAPD \u2018pretextual\u2019 stops blamed for racial discrimination - California Relocation Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b91b795e19e63fc8bb8c4ae9271291ad-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-08T21:00:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=318#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b91b795e19e63fc8bb8c4ae9271291ad-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b91b795e19e63fc8bb8c4ae9271291ad-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1652,\"caption\":\"LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 25, 2019 - - L.A.P.D. officers give a man a ticket for an expired registration in South Los Angeles on July 25, 2019. 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