West Hollywood, CA 2023
DEPARTMENTAL CONTEXT
Findings should be interpreted alongside context about the demographics of local residents, the demographics of sworn deputies, and the department’s work toward racial equity.
This section contains information on deputy demographics and departmental initiatives related to equitable policing practices that was input by the department through a survey. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) West Hollywood Station submitted its responses to the context survey on January 19, 2023.
RESIDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
The resident population of West Hollywood, California is 76% White, 11% Latinx, 5.2% Asian, 4.1% Multiple Racial Groups, 3.6% Black, 0.4% Other, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and less than 0.05% Native. The total resident population of West Hollywood, California is 36,384.
CPE’s approach to assessing racial disparities in policing uses population benchmarking in combination with other strategies that allow us to perform standardized analyses across law enforcement agencies. Population benchmarking cannot account for out-of-town visitors—though it is not known whether any disparity observed would appear larger or smaller if the non-resident population were fully accounted for. However, it can provide meaningful information about the experiences of people interacting with LASD deputies, even if some or many of the people who are stopped or subjected to force may have come from out of town.
DEPUTY DEMOGRAPHICS
These demographics were provided by the station as of January 19, 2023.
LASD’s contract with the City of West Hollywood assigns 59 deputies to staff the LASD West Hollywood Station, reported in the above chart as the total number of authorized/funded deputies. LASD rotates in 74 additional deputies from surrounding areas to patrol West Hollywood on an as-needed basis (for example, on Halloween night), making up the total of 133 current sworn deputies reported on the above chart.
ABOUT THIS ASSESSMENT
LASD West Hollywood Station joined CPE’s National Justice Database project in June 2021. LASD shared data with CPE in order to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to equitable outcomes in policing and public safety. This assessment analyzes use of force data from 2017 – 2021, traffic and non-traffic stop data from July 1, 2018 – December 31, 2021, and calls for service and officer-initiated activity data from 2017 – 2021.
This assessment uses data provided by LASD because the City of West Hollywood contracts with LASD for policing services. The City of West Hollywood also contracts with Block by Block, a private security agency that provides unarmed bicycle and foot patrols throughout the City’s commercial districts. Data on stops and other activities conducted by this agency were not provided. The LASD West Hollywood Station serves the City of West Hollywood and the unincorporated Universal CityWalk.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS KEY INITIATIVES
LASD has recently updated its policies on data collection and racial profiling, in addition to implementing new training programs. LASD’s West Hollywood Station also utilizes several co-response teams and diversion strategies to address events involving individuals experiencing mental health crises, homelessness, and/or substance use issues. For more information on the Station’s co-response teams, see the Department Summary of its Community Outreach Initiatives section below.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVES
In 2015, the California State Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, Assembly Bill 953, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act. The law requires California law enforcement agencies to collect data and report that data annually to the California Department of Justice. Some of the data to be collected is perceptions about race, gender, sexual orientation, and others. The collection of this information is used to better understand law enforcement interactions with the Communities they serve.
As a result of this legislation, the Sheriff’s Department designed and built a system to capture this information which is called the Sheriff’s Automated Contact Reporting system. This new system allows deputies to collect this statutorily required information using the Mobile Digital Computers in their patrol vehicles or using a desktop computer.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INITIATIVES
West Hollywood is a small city (1.9 square miles and approximately 36,000 residents). It’s also an outsized economic and cultural center, a regional entertainment destination, and a hub of global tourism. West Hollywood is one of the densest of Los Angeles County’s 88 cities and its main roadway corridors –Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard– each host daily pass-through traffic that equals or exceeds the City’s total residential population. The City supports millions of visitors each year and on any given weekend evening, its population swells by countless thousands of people –a significant portion of whom are part of the LGBTQ+ community– who visit the City for its bars, restaurants, and nightlife venues. For these reasons, the LASD and City strive to meet the community’s unique public safety needs by investing in the following strategic partnerships and initiatives:
Teams
The Community Impact Team (CIT) includes the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) Team and the Entertainment Policing Team (EPT). The CIT collectively manages community concerns and promotes crime prevention through a variety of intervention and enforcement techniques. Team members work with Residents, Businesses, and City staff to address the quality of life concerns.
The Entertainment Policing Team continues its work on Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Robertson Boulevard. Entertainment Policing deputies primarily focus on “entertainment” and “alcohol” related law enforcement issues in the city. On a nightly basis, they actively patrol over ninety bars, nightclubs, and hotels. While patrolling the different venues, the team members make contact with the management of the different establishments to maintain a cooperative working relationship and to stay informed on individual business concerns and events.
As part of their regular duties, EPT handles crowd control issues and Alcoholic Beverage Control enforcement. Personnel also works closely with the Sunset Strip Business Association (SSBA), their related security detail, SSBA members, and City Code Compliance officers through specialized operations. The deputies also enforce the codes concerning loud music/party and other quality of life issues. Another aspect of their duties includes assisting the West Hollywood Detective Bureau by documenting and monitoring members of gangs, people on probation, and people on parole in the City’s limits. The Team has received numerous commendations from community members, the station Captain, and the City.
The COPPS Team remains committed to collaborating with City officials, residents, and businesses to solve community concerns. Team members also worked with several Neighborhood Watch groups addressing residents’ concerns, including criminal transient issues. Team members not only make arrests for violations of law, but also provide information and assistance regarding shelters, medical attention, jobs, and substance use disorder education. In addition, the COPPS team conducts numerous park patrols and works closely with local businesses to address their concerns.
A new program was created to help address the issue of people experiencing homelessness in the Community. The program is called CARE Outreach (Contact, Assist, Resources, and Enforcement). The CIT Team has operations where the Teams go around the City and contact people experiencing homelessness. The Teams offer resources and access to housing. If the person does not accept the offer, other information is provided to the person if they change their mind. The last resort is enforcement.
A new program was created to help address the issue of people experiencing homelessness in the Community. The program is called CARE Outreach (Contact, Assist, Resources, and Enforcement). The CIT Team has operations where the Teams go around the City and contact people experiencing homelessness. The Teams offer resources and access to housing. If the person does not accept the offer, other information is provided to the person if they change their mind. The last resort is enforcement.
Tarzana Treatment Center Partnership
The City and Station have entered into a partnership with Tarzana Treatment Center to provide substance use disorder treatment. When the CIT Team conducts a CARE Outreach Operation and ends up arresting someone who is experiencing substance use disorder, the next day, a counselor from the Tarzana Treatment Center comes to the station to interview the individual to determine interest and eligibility to enter a rehabilitation program. This provides an opportunity and second chance for people in the community suffering with substance use disorder to receive help.
Community Academy
The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station facilitated a Community Academy at the City’s West Hollywood Park Aquatic and Recreation Center intended to provide members of the public insight into their Department’s policies/processes and Station operations to address and prevent crime. This was a six-week course that required participants to attend once a week for three hours.
Mental Evaluation Team
The Mental Evaluation Team (MET) includes a specialized Deputy and an LA County Department of Mental Health clinician and is part of the County of Los Angeles’ future plans to reduce the jail population. MET diverts clients away from jail in the field and at booking counters Countywide which supports the County’s roadmap for change with emphasis on: “Care First, Jails Last.” As such, in its 2020 report, the Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) Workgroup recommended the County “substantially increase the number of co-response teams” (Recommendation #45). In its early report, the ATI Workgroup deferred to the Civilian Oversight Commission study with regard to the actual minimum number needed (60 teams). The vast majority of individuals encountered by MET are diverted away from the criminal justice system.
MET is uniquely involved in proactively seeking to divert even more people away from jail with its newest initiative: “Intake Booking Diversion” (IBD) program. Whenever a person is arrested and taken to a Sheriff’s Station jail, and it is discovered the person suffers from mental illness, the MET Triage Desk must be notified. MET will then send a team (if available) to evaluate the individual for suitability of discontinuing the booking and instead allowing MET to transport the individual to a mental health and/or substance use treatment facility. MET has partnered with the Centers for Court Innovation who won a federal grant to act as the third-party researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of the new MET IBD program for possible replication elsewhere, potentially even nationwide, by other police agencies.
The West Hollywood MET team has forged effective partnerships with several of the City’s contracted social services providers and the homeless services navigators at Cedars Sinai to strengthen the safety net for those West Hollywood community members who are experiencing mental health challenges, homelessness, or who are at risk for homelessness. The specially trained deputy sheriff and the DMH-licensed mental health clinician are trained to evaluate, and if necessary, authorized to initiate acute psychiatric holds, in accordance with the Welfare and Institutions Code, section 5150 or 5585. The MET unit provides housed and unhoused community members with mental health support, crisis intervention, and appropriate psychiatric placement, substance use treatment, and mental health linkages through the new initiative Outpatient Outreach Treatment (OTT) program when needed.
In the last two years, the City of West Hollywood has benefitted from this locally serving MET unit, which allowed for rapid response to community members in crisis. Compared to the regional-serving County-operated MET units’ average response time of 20 minutes, the West Hollywood MET unit averaged a response time of 13 minutes. Additionally, when the MET unit arrived on scene and patrol deputies had rendered the situation safe, the MET unit relieved an average of 3 Deputies and 1 Sergeant who could then return to the field and be available to respond to other incidents in West Hollywood. This local availability and rapid response led to measurable, positive impacts for the community. The contracted West Hollywood MET Team responded to 109 calls during January through November 2022 and evaluated 100 people experiencing a mental health crisis. Of these 100 individuals, 34 adults were involuntarily hospitalized by MET to receive mental health treatment. The MET unit prevented the use of force in 4 interactions and reduced the use of force in 4 interactions between Sheriff’s Deputies and community members; MET’s interventions prevented civilian and deputy injuries in which each incident could have led to trauma, civil claims, lawsuits, disability leave and loss of administrative time. Fourteen West Hollywood constituents living with severe and persistent mental health illness were referred to a specialized County-funded intensive case management program 3 (Risk Assessment and Management Program) and 12 (OTT) to meet their underlying mental health needs and reduce the recurrence of chronic calls for use of 911-level services.
The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station now has access to the services of “VMET”. VMET is a new program of the Veterans Administration at the Federal Enclave and serves veterans who may be experiencing mental health issues. West Hollywood veterans are eligible to receive assistance from VMET and to be connected with the specialized services they need and deserve. VMET will coordinate with the Station’s personnel, especially the MET team, to assist with veteran residents in need and hopefully help them find long term housing and care. The City’s Strategic Initiatives and Social Services staff will work in partnership with MET, and now also VMET, as needed.
Youth Activities League
The Station also has a youth outreach program. The Youth Activities League (YAL) is a program between the Sheriff’s Station and the City. This program offers youth an opportunity to do activities, field trips, and other trips. YAL provides a safe space for youth with a constructive program.
Volunteers in Police Service
There are 22 volunteers who serve the West Hollywood Station. Station volunteers assist with Front Desk reception, clerical duties, traffic control and handicap placard violation citations.
Sheriff Reserve Deputies
West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station has an active Reserve Deputy program. Reserve Deputies work security at City Council meetings, in the Detective Bureau and Narcotics Bureaus, as well as regular patrol operations. It is an opportunity for community members to participate in the safety of their community.
LGBTQ+ Training
The Sheriff’s Department has recently launched a new LGBTQ+ Training program for the entire Department. The training is approved by the California State Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission. POST sets all the standards for Peace Officers in the State of California. West Hollywood Station received the inaugural class for this new training program and will continue this training program.
