LAPD: 30% of Pretextual Stops Uncover Evidence of Other Crimes

About 10% of all traffic stops made by Los Angeles police officers in recent years were so-called pretextual stops, with roughly 30% of those resulting in evidence found related to other crimes, according to a nine-page report released by the department.

LAPD first started tracking pretextual stops in April 2022, a month after revising its policy restricting what the agency calls an “investigative tool” that curbs drug crimes and violence crime.

In general, a pretextual stop is when an officer uses a minor vehicle code violation as a legal pretext to investigate a hunch about a more serious, unrelated crime.

However, the LAPD policy implemented in March 2022 does not allow officers to use pretextual stops based solely on a hunch. Instead, the report says, the officer must act only “upon articulable information” and explain to the driver why the vehicle was pulled over with the officer’s body-worn camera on.

Critics of pretextual stops have said they are disproportionate by race. A 2020 report by the LAPD’s Office of the Inspector General found that there were indeed disparities across a broad group of traffic stops in Los Angeles, with people police believed were Black overrepresented.

From April 1, 2022, through Nov. 30, 2025, LAPD officers stopped nearly 790,000 people, with almost 75,500 of those considered pretextual stops, the data shows.

Nearly 70% of those searches resulted in no evidence found.

Among the roughly 30% when evidence was discovered, drugs were the most common, at nearly 20% of the pretextual stops that resulted in vehicle searches. Firearms and weapons each accounted for 5% to 7%.

By the time the policy was implemented, LAPD’s total number of traffic stops had already sharply declined from 713,000 in 2019 to 331,000 three years later, which police attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced personnel and policy changes.

In 2024, the last year in the report, there were 349,000 total stops.

The report was prompted by the Los Angeles City Council, which was looking at alternatives to end pretextual stops, including a new unarmed agency that would stop drivers and write tickets to build trust with the public, NBC Los Angeles reported.

But LAPD’s report says the existing limitations on pretextual stops balances community concerns with public safety, allowing for an “effective investigative tool.”

“It has to be more than a hunch; it has to be actually informed,” Capt. Shannon White told the Los Angeles Police Commission this week. “The officer is making every effort that they can to be proactive in preventing crime based on the information they are receiving daily through roll calls, what they are receiving through their hot sheets, what they’re also receiving through crime analysts.”

A hot sheet is often used during daily briefings to update officers about crime trends, suspects and recent crimes.

The commission’s board members asked the LAPD for more data on pretextual stops, including breakdowns of the ethnicities of people pulled over, the evidence found by ethnic group, the time of day for the stops and the reasons why the drivers were stopped.

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