Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) serves Los Angeles County, California. It also serves the incorporated cities and towns within the county who have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services (known as "contract cities" in local jargon).

The LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States with over 13,000 employees. On December 1, 1996 the LASD had 8,028 sworn deputies and 4,377 civilian employees.

LASD deputies provided law enforcement services to 2,557,754 residents in an area of 3,171 square miles both in the unincorporated County land and within the contract cities (1995 figure).

The Sheriff's Department also operates a gigantic jail system which provides short-term incarceration services for all of the County (including the cities like Los Angeles which have their own police departments). Most of the jail facilities are located in a dense cluster northeast of Union Station that is surrounded by the station's rail yard. The most important is the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The Department claims that it operates the largest jail in the free world.

Some of the newer contract cities like Santa Clarita and West Hollywood never had police departments. When their city governments were founded, they took over what was formerly unincorporated land, but then contracted their police responsibilities right back to the county sheriff. Since the sheriff already had substations in those areas anyway, the result was to maintain the status quo.

In contrast, Compton, California, used to have a police department, but then the city council in 2000 voted to dismantle the police department and become a contract city. Compton has been at times notorious for gang violence.

Leroy D. Baca is the current sheriff.

Contract Law Enforcement by LASD

Cities

LASD has entered into contracts with the below cities to serve as their police department/law enforcement agency.

City	Served by
Agoura Hills	Malibu/Lost Hills Station
Artesia	Lakewood Station
Avalon (Catalina Island)	Avalon Station
Bellflower	Lakewood Station
Bradbury	Temple Station
Calabasas	Lost Hills Station
Carson	Carson Station
Cerritos	Cerritos Station
Commerce	East Los Angeles Station
Compton	Compton Station
Diamond Bar	Walnut / Diamond Bar Station
Duarte	Temple Station
Hawaiian Gardens	Lakewood Station
Hidden Hills	Malibu/Lost Hills Station
City of Industry	Industry Station
La Canada Flintridge	Altadena Station
La Habra Heights	Industry Station
Lakewood	Lakewood Station
La Mirada	Norwalk Station
Lancaster	Lancaster Station
La Puente	Industry Station
Lawndale	Lennox Station/Lawndale Sheriff's Department Service Center
Lomita	Lomita Station
Lynwood	Lynwood Station
Malibu	Malibu/Lost Hills Station
Norwalk	Norwalk Station
Palmdale	Palmdale Station
Paramount	Lakewood Station
Pico Rivera	Pico Rivera Station
Rancho Palos Verdes	Lomita Station
Rolling Hills	Lomita Station
Rolling Hills Estates	Lomita Station
Rosemead	Temple Station
San Dimas	San Dimas Station
Santa Clarita	Santa Clarita Station
South El Monte	Temple Station
Temple City	Temple Station
Walnut	Walnut/Diamond Bar Station
West Hollywood	West Hollywood Station
Westlake Village	Malibu/Lost Hills Station

Santa Fe Springs was a contract city served by the LASD-Norwalk Station until the 1990s. It now contracts with Whittier Police Department.

Agencies that Contract with LASD for Law Enforcement Services

Transit Services Bureau

Metrolink
Los Angeles MTA Blue Line/Green Line/Red Line and Buses

Community Colleges Services Bureau

Los Angeles Community College District

Court Services Division

Prisoner Transport Services with 31 of the 58 counties in California
Los Angeles County Marshal/Municipal Courts (Merged into LASD Court Services)

Contract Custody Services

California Department of Corrections (Housing Parole Violators)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Detention of Illegal Aliens arrested by ICE)

Television shows based on LASD

In the late 1950's, a short lived "Dragnet (drama)"-style television series, "Code 3", aired based on real cases (though names and locations were changed) from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The late Eugene Biscailuz, then Sheriff of Los Angeles County, was featured in a cameo tag line at the end of every episode.

The department's Emergency Services Detail was depicted in the short lived television series, 240-Robert.

In September 2003, ABC premiered Officers on Duty a prime time drama (with a light comedy twist) based on a rookie with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. The show lasted one or two seasons. The show's name was based on the police radio code for "on duty".

External links

United States sheriffs' departments | Los Angeles County, California