NCJ Number
152029
Date Published
1994
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings and recommendations from a study of the residency patterns of officers in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Abstract
In late 1992 and through the first 8 months of 1993, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California sought information on residency patterns of Los Angeles police officers. The Los Angeles Police Department provided the zipcodes of all 7,568 sworn officers on the force at the time. The findings show that 83.1 percent of officers lived outside the City of Los Angeles. There were clearly defined police enclaves in the Antelope Valley, the west San Fernando Valley area, and along the Pomona Freeway. In Simi Valley, where 293 Los Angeles officers resided, the Los Angeles officers outnumbered the local Simi Valley Police Department by more than 2 to 1. Police officers who lived in the city were not evenly distributed across Los Angeles. The communities in which the largest clusters of officers resided had racial profiles significantly different from Los Angeles, making it more likely that officers and their families have few social interactions with African-Americans outside the context of police work. Among the report's recommendations are that the city use its influence with private lenders to establish a program of low-interest and no-interest mortgage loans for police officers to induce them to live in the city, especially in 7 of the 18 police divisions with special problems of poverty and crime. Special incentives should be provided to induce officers to move into high-crime neighborhoods designated by the department. Also, the city and the police department should institute a system of city-owned or rent-subsidized housing for police officers willing to make a 1-year or 2-year residency commitment to high-crime neighborhoods. 3 tables and 17 notes