This section contains information on deputy demographics and departmental initiatives related to equitable policing practices that was input directly by the department through a survey. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lancaster Station submitted its responses to the context survey on December 20, 2023.
Lancaster, CA 2025
DEPARTMENTAL CONTEXT
Findings should be interpreted alongside context about the demographics of local residents, the demographics of sworn officers, and the department’s work toward racial equity.
RESIDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lancaster Station deputies do not patrol certain areas of the county that are patrolled by other LASD Stations. Therefore, this assessment only includes resident demographic data from areas of Los Angeles County that are within the jurisdiction of Lancaster Station.
The resident population included in this assessment is 46% Latinx, 26% White, 18% Black, 4% Asian, 4.4% Multiple Racial Groups, 0.4% Native, 0.8% Other, and 0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The total population of LASD Lancaster Station’s patrol area is 205,855.
ABOUT THIS ASSESSMENT
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lancaster Station joined CPE’s National Justice Database project in March 2023. LASD shared data with CPE in order to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to advance equitable outcomes in policing and public safety. This assessment analyzes use of force data from January 1, 2018 – September 30, 2022, vehicle and pedestrian stop data from 2019 – 2022, and calls for service and officer-initiated activity data from 2018 – 2022.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS KEY INITIATIVES
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lancaster Station has recently updated its policies on use of force, vehicle and pedestrian stops, racial profiling, data collection and data quality assurance. Additionally, they have updated their training programs, programs for eliciting community input and advancing community trust, and programs to reduce use of force and divert calls to community-based/alternative response teams.
As part of LASD’s Settlement Agreement with the California Department of Justice (2015), the department, and its Lancaster Station, are required to use incremental force when the use of force is deemed appropriate by a deputy. This means officers must start with the lowest form of force available and steadily escalate. This can impact the data Justice Navigator users engage with—such as the overall number of use of force incidents reported—as well as mental health emergency response, as some use of force may precede the deployment of Lancaster Station’s Mental Evaluation Team (which is described in greater detail in the Department Summary of Its Racial Equity Initiatives section).
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVES
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) entered into a Settlement Agreement with the California Department of Justice in 2015. LASD Lancaster Station works to ensure police services are delivered to its residents in compliance with the Constitution and laws of the United States. LASD has revised the Service Comment Review Handbook, the Use of Force policy, Taser policy and the Administrative Investigations Handbook. All are currently awaiting approval to publish and implement.
In 2021, a new force category was added to the force policy. A Non-Categorized Force Incident (NCI) was added to document use of force incidents where there is no injury or complaint of pain. Division Order 22-02 was also implemented, whereby supervisors conducting reviews of category 2 use of force incidents shall review, without necessary delay, all relevant body-worn camera (BWC) videos. To oversee and monitor compliance efforts, LASD Lancaster Station created its own Compliance Unit. This has proven to be very beneficial in building staff awareness of the mandates and to identifying potential constitutional violations. LASD also introduced the Office of Constitutional Policing (OCP), which will work on bringing the Department into compliance with the Antelope Valley Settlement Agreement.
In 2018, LASD established a policy for tracking “stop data” pursuant to Assembly Bill 953, also known as the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA). The Sheriff’s Automated Contact Reporting (SACR) application was established to report and track all detentions and arrests. To ensure accuracy, the system is reviewed on a regular basis by a supervisor. Also, to abide by Senate Bill 2, LASD introduced the Senate Bill 2 Misconduct Allegation Reporting Tracking (SMART) System to report allegations or findings of misconduct by Department personnel.
In October 2020, LASD Lancaster Station deputies were equipped with BWCs. Deputies are required to activate their BWCs prior to initiating any enforcement or investigative contact involving a member of the public. As part of its efforts to support constitutional policing, LASD Lancaster Station introduced several programs and unit-specific policies. Unit Order #68 aims to ensure that all investigatory stops, seizures, and searches are conducted in accordance with the rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws or the United States. Unit Order #69 aims to ensure LASD Lancaster Station supervisors will be held accountable for appropriately and thoroughly reviewing reports and documentation related to stops, searches, seizures, and requires deputies to articulate sufficient rationale under law and policy. LASD Lancaster Station also partnered with and supports Tarzana Treatment Center (TTC), a substance use diversion programs for adults and youth. Relatedly, Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) is a diversion program for adults which is staffed at LASD Lancaster Station. ATI employees conduct interviews of arrestees and determine if they qualify for the program, and the station’s Youth Diversion and Development Program (DYD) similarly offers diversion as an alternative to the traditional youth legal system. Instead of being arrested or cited for an alleged crime, children ages 12-17 can be diverted into community-based programs that address accountability and provide support, education, and services. These programs have helped to reduce incarceration and criminal legal involvement in the Lancaster community.
LASD’s Mental Evaluation Team (MET) has partnered with Department of Mental Health Clinicians to respond to calls involving community members who are experiencing mental health crises. MET also assists with patient transportation to hospitals. On average, LASD Lancaster Station responds to approximately 1400 mental health-related calls a year and the majority result in a 72-hour psychiatric holds. Lancaster recently introduced its own hybrid law enforcement model to help support and improve public safety, the Lancaster Police Department. They work in conjunction with LASD. Currently, Community Service Officers from the Lancaster Police Department are handling reports with no suspect information. Future additions to their field force are expected to help reduce heavy call volume and better address quality-of-life issues such as these. LASD Lancaster Station supports all of the LASD changes as well as the Settlement Agreement reforms and works toward making Lancaster a safe community for all.
LASD Headquarters has made extensive changes to their stop and use of force policies. All stop data is publicly available here and subject to review by leadership and external governing bodies, like the Antelope Valley Monitoring Team. You can see their December 2024 recent report here, which claims that LASD’s stop activity is in compliance with their Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Additionally, as of 2022, LASD Stations are required to use the Sheriff’s Automated Contact Reporting (SACR) System to record most public interactions with deputies, which is reviewed by leadership and cross-referenced with their computer-aided dispatch system to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. LASD has collaborated with many external bodies like the Los Angeles County Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative to develop strategic training and community outreach programs that prioritize de-escalation and crisis management over force. These efforts resulted in the development of a proprietary de-escalation process that is now in use across the Department. You can learn more about it here.
Use of Force
In the last year, LASD revised their Manual of Policy and Procedures in an effort to more comprehensively document use of force and generally curb trends in the Department’s use of force in accordance with the Antelope Valley Settlement Agreement between the Department and the US Department of Justice. This has included making use of force data publicly available online, the implementation of a Learning Management System (LMS) to track trainings, and Performance Oversight Information Tracker system to allow supervisors to routinely review performance. To date, over 99% of the Department has completed trainings through the LMS.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INITIATIVES
In an effort to reach out to community members in Lancaster, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lancaster Station’s Community Relations team has connected with non-profit organizations, school districts, and local businesses to improve outreach efforts and better disseminate information. LASD Lancaster Station is always looking for new members to serve on their Community Advisory Committee (CAC). CAC members are a vital part of the station’s success in informing the community of any of its policy changes and new programs and events. LASD Lancaster Station facilitates quarterly public meetings with the CAC to discuss the Settlement Agreement, share crime statistics, and receive feedback from the community about current public safety issues. In addition to LASD Lancaster Station’s CAC, the station utilizes social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. LASD Lancaster Station also partner with Lancaster and a local media source (AV Scanner Group) to share media posts.
LASD has distributed a Community Engagement Handbook to every patrol station in an effort to ensure that all stations have the necessary resources to expand their reach within and best connect with the various communities they serve.
REDESIGNING PUBLIC SAFETY IN LANCASTER
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lancaster Station has launched alternative response models, such as the Alternative to Incarceration and Youth Diversion Programs, to divert community members away from the criminal legal system where possible. They have also partnered with the Tarzana Treatment Center and developed a Mental Evaluation Team to ensure mental health professionals are present, or at least involved, in calls for service involving persons experiencing mental health crises or similar quality-of-life issues.