The Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD) is a

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, whose duties are to provide police services to the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

(thus, sometimes called L.A. Unified Police), also enforcing state and city laws. LASPD officers assist staff with disturbances and potential criminal activity on the campuses and in the surrounding communities on a daily basis.

Organization

The Los Angeles School Police Department was established in August 1948 to provide police services to the Los Angeles Unified School District. The department deploys six police divisions (Northwest, Northeast, West, Central, East, and South) with assignments consisted of Canine (K-9), Youth Services Divisions (Police Explorers, PALs Program), Safe Passages, Honor Guard, C.R.T. (Critical Response Team), Communications, Recruitment, Training Unit, Fleet Management, Payroll Section, Budget Services Unit, Records Unit, and Crime Analysis Unit.

Responsibility

24 hours a day, the LASPD is responsible for providing police services to:Official Site
/ref> * A jurisdiction covering * Approximately 618,000 students * Approximately 72,000 teachers, administrators and additional school staff * Approximately 1,300 schools, centers, and administrative offices

Ranks

The LASPD deploys sworn personnel in a variety of ranks:

Assignments

Assignments within the Police Department include: *

Campus Police Campus police or university police in the United States and Canada are sworn police or peace officers employed by a college or university to protect that private property of the campus and surrounding areas and the people who live, work, and v ...

Officer *

Patrol Officer A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Fren ...

Field Training Officer A field training officer (FTO) is an experienced or senior member of an organization who is responsible for the training and evaluation of a junior or probationary level member. The role is used extensively in Law enforcement organisation, law enfo ...

Criminal Investigation Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservatio ...

* Canine * Special Investigation * Background Investigation * Training and Support Services * Traffic Enforcement * Technology * Police Explorers *

Special Response Team In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

(S.R.T.) * Supervising School Safety Officer (non-sworn position) * School Safety Officer (non-sworn position) * Police Dispatcher (civilian position) * Specialist Reserve Officer (civilian position) * Records, payroll, subpoena and other clerical support staff (civilian position) All police officers must complete an intensive probationary period after graduation from the police academy. Prior to selection to any specialized unit, there may also be an additional 3-5 year field assignment prerequisite.

Controversy

The Los Angeles School Police Department has accepted crowd- and disturbance-control weapons including one armored vehicle and firearms from the federal government. Superintendent Ramon Cortines of LA Unified School District confirmed in June 2015 that the district's police force has ended its involvement in a federal program that delivered military-grade weapons to school districts. The decision on the so-called 1033 Program came on the heels of President Obama‘s announcement in May that he was severely restricting the parameters of the program. On June 23, 2020, following student activism inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, the LA Unified School District school board considered three resolutions to begin de-funding of the department. Also at issue was the departments use of pepper spray, which had been used 11 times in the 2018-2019 school year.

References

External links

Los Angeles School Police Department Official Site
{Dead link, date=March 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Los Angeles School Police AssociationLos Angeles School Police Department K-9 Unit
School police departments of California Los Angeles Unified School District Government agencies established in 1948