The Los Angeles Police Department is the local law enforcement agency for the city of Los Angeles, California, an area 468 square miles in size. The LAPD is the third largest local law enforcement agency in the United States with over ten thousand sworn officers and almost three thousand civilian staff. According to the official LAPD website at lapdonline.org, their mission statement is:
“It is the mission of the Los Angeles Police Department to safeguard the lives and property of the people we serve, to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, and to enhance public safety while working with the diverse communities to improve their quality of life. Our mandate is to do so with honor and integrity, while at all times conducting ourselves with the highest ethical standards to maintain public confidence.”
The LAPD is a truly expansive law enforcement agency with numerous divisions within it. The Office of Special Operations is composed of the Property Division, the Jail Division, the Detective Bureau and the Counter Terrorism and Special operations Bureau. The Detective Bureau is the main investigative division of the LAPD and is subdivided into the following sections or division: the Investigative Analysis Section, the Scientific Investigation Division (SID), the Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) (which is further divided into the Homicide Special Section (HSS), the Robbery Special Section (RSS), the Special Assault Section (SAS), the Cold Case Special Section (CCSS) and the Special Investigation Section (SIS)), the Commercial Crimes Division, the Detective Support and Vice Division (further divided into the Mental Evaluation Unit and the Threat Management Unit), the Juvenile Division, and the Gang and Narcotics Division.
The Office of Operations serves as the patrol services division for the LAPD and is divided into four regionally based bureaus. The Central Bureau is responsible for eastern and downtown Los Angeles covering the Central Area, the Hollenbeck Area, the Newton Area, the Northeast Area and the Rampart Area. The South Bureau is responsible for south Los Angeles, except for Compton and Inglewood which have their own local law enforcement agencies, and covers the 77th Street Area, the Harbor Area, the Southeast Area and the Southwest Area. The Valley Bureau is responsible for the San Fernando Valley and covers the Devonshire Area, the Foothill Area, the Mission Area, the North Hollywood Area, the Van Nuys Area, the West Valley Area and the Topanga Area. The West Bureau is responsible for much of the popularly recognized areas of Los Angeles including Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills area, Westwood, Venice and the UCLA campus but excludes Beverly Hills and Santa Monica which have their own local law enforcement agencies. The West Bureau covers the Hollywood Area, the Olympic Area, the Pacific Area, the West Los Angeles Area and the Wilshire Area.
Los Angeles, California has approximately 3,855,100 residents, and it experiences an average of 107,600 crimes per annum. Violent crimes account for about 17% of the total number of crimes with murders at 299 (0.08 per 1000 residents), rapes at 953 (0.25 per 1000 residents), robberies at 9,010 (2.34 per 1000 residents) and assaults at 8,360 (2.17 per 1000 residents) for a grand total of 18,622 violent crimes per annum (4.83 per 1000 residents). Property crimes account for the other 83 percent of those crimes with burglaries at 16,589 (4.30 per 1000 residents), thefts at 57,269 (14.86 per 1000 residents) and motor vehicle thefts at 15,120 (3.92 per 1000 residents) for a grand total of 88,978 property crimes per annum (23.08 per 1000 residents). Overall, a resident of Los Angeles, California has a 1 in 207 chance of falling victim of a violent crime and a 1 in 43 chance of suffering from property crime each year.
Information on obtaining an arrest summary can be found here: Obtaining Arrest Summaries. Information on obtaining other publicly accessible information, such as criminal records, clearance letters and police reports, can be found at Obtaining Police Information. Information on inmates residing within the Los Angeles County Jail System can be acquired by visiting the Inmate Information Center. Information on obtaining reports, such as arrest, crime or traffic reports, as well as information on obtaining photos, mandated registration, and warrants can be found at Reports and Other Services.