A fresh look inside Los Angeles policing shows most so-called pretextual traffic stops are not turning up what officers are hoping to find. A new Los Angeles Police Department analysis presented to the Police Commission found that from April 1, 2022, through Nov. 30, 2025, roughly 30 percent of about 75,500 pretextual stops led to evidence of other crimes. The review, aired at this week’s commission meeting, has commissioners now pushing the department for a far more detailed breakdown of who is being stopped and for what reasons.
What the LAPD numbers show
According to the internal memo, about 30 percent of pretextual stops produced evidence of another offense. Drugs were the most common find, accounting for nearly 20 percent of searches that uncovered any evidence. Firearms and other weapons each made up roughly 5 to 7 percent of those hits. On the flip side, about 70 percent of searches after pretextual stops did not yield any evidence at all. Those figures and the scope of the review were outlined by the Los Angeles Daily News.
Policy shift and background
The numbers land in the middle of a shift in how the LAPD is supposed to conduct these encounters. In early 2022, the Police Commission approved a policy that requires officers to base pretextual stops on "articulable information" rather than a gut feeling, and to state their reason on body-worn cameras before broadening an encounter. Adopted in March 2022, the rule was designed to curb fishing expeditions while preserving officers’ ability to act when they have specific, explainable leads, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Oversight and next steps
After hearing the topline findings, Police Commission members told the department they want a much deeper look at how these stops play out. They requested data on the racial and ethnic breakdown of people stopped, the types of evidence recovered by group, the time of day, and officers’ stated reasons for initiating the stops before considering any additional policy tweaks. Cmdr. Shannon White told commissioners that officers must go beyond a hunch and "act on informed, articulable information" when they pull someone over, according to the department memo and related reporting. The review has also helped spark conversations at City Hall about alternatives to traditional armed traffic enforcement, as noted by the Los Angeles Daily News.
Where the city goes from here
Some City Council members and reform advocates are pointing to nontraditional approaches, including a council-approved study on shifting certain traffic enforcement duties to unarmed civilian teams, as part of a broader push to reduce racial disparities and unnecessary police encounters. That study was detailed by the Los Angeles Times. For now, the Police Commission has asked the LAPD to return with the requested breakdowns so department leaders and city officials can decide whether changes in policy, training or even legislation are on the table.
