Police Reform

In the 2021/2022 City Budget, the City Council permanently eliminated 7% of the City’s sworn police officer positions. These eight (8) sworn police officer positions include four sworn officer positions that will be replaced by civilian staff positions, and four unfilled sworn officer positions that will be permanently eliminated.

Learn more and see answers to frequently asked questions about the elimination of sworn police officer positions.

The City Council allocated $1.5 million in the 2021/2022 City Budget to develop a Mobile Crisis Intervention Service (MCIS) program. Non-Police City staff will respond to calls for individuals experiencing issues related to mental health, drug use, being unhoused or other well-being concerns. The Culver City Police Department’s Culver City Mental Health Evaluation Team will be gradually removed from responding to these types of calls.

The Culver City Police Department undertook a comprehensive review and reform of its Use of Force policy in 2020. CCPD sought community input through engagement activities such as a community survey and meeting with both the Chief’s Advisory Panel and the City’s Government Alliance on Race Equity group. After completing the review, CCPD created one of the most progressive and accountable Use of Force policies in the nation.

The Culver City Police Department will no longer make traffic stops solely based on minor equipment related traffic infractions such as tinted windows, malfunctioning vehicle lights, broken windshields, etc. This refocused policing approach addresses community concerns that low-level traffic infraction enforcement has a disproportionate impact on lower-income segments of our community, particularly for community members of color. It will also allow CCPD to prioritize enforcement of more hazardous traffic violations and responding to crime.

More about Traffic Stop Changes

The changes to traffic stops are part of CCPD's “Refocused Policing Directive”. The Department remains committed to enforcing and promoting traffic safety, through the prioritization of hazardous traffic violation enforcement.

CCPD traffic stop statistics can be found in the CCPD’s Monthly Reports.

The Culver City Police Department is the first small or medium-sized police department in the region to begin collecting and reporting all data on traffic stops and officer contacts required by the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), more than three years earlier than the law requires. The purpose of RIPA is to eliminate racial and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement.

More about RIPA 

The purpose of the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) is to eliminate racial and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement. RIPA is also an important initiative in strengthening law enforcement and community relations through enhanced transparency and accountability. On January 1, 2021, the Culver City Police Department fully implemented and launched RIPA, in accordance with the California Department of Justice. This proactive effort made CCPD the first police department in the region to become fully compliant with RIPA, except for the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriff Department (who had an earlier mandate for implementation). In fact, CCPD implemented RIPA more than three years before the first required reporting deadline on April 1, 2023. RIPA mandates that all police-initiated contacts capture and report perceived demographic data, including race, gender, age, sexual orientation, language fluency, and disability, as well as the reason for all contacts, actions taken during the contact, and ultimately the result of the contact.

Find CCPD’s RIPA data in CCPD’s Monthly Reports.

The California Department of Justice’s RIPA Board publishes an annual statewide report that will eventually include Culver City’s data.

In the interest of transparency and data sharing, the Culver City Police Department has developed a comprehensive and detailed Monthly Report available to the community.  The CCPD Monthly Report provides data regarding use of force incidents, personnel complaints, RIPA traffic stop data, arrest data, detailed crime statistics, traffic statistics, drone deployments, and Department demographics. The detail provided in the report, and the frequency in which it is disseminated, is unlike any other reporting found in the region.

Youth Diversion & Development

As part of CCPD’s Youth Diversion & Development program, prior to arrest, the Culver City Police Department diverts youths ages 13-17 to New Earth Organization’s center in Culver City. The New Earth Organization enrolls them in programs including mental health support. Starting in 2021, Culver City is partnering on a two-year, $4.5 million program to improve the New Earth Organization’s infrastructure to enhance alternatives to detention, placement and incarceration.

More about Youth Diversion & Development

CCPD is committed to divert youth away from the criminal justice system by working with private and public entities. Since the inception of the Youth Diversion & Development program in the summer of 2019, 37% of all youths arrested by CCPD have been diverted to the New Earth Organization (59 individuals out of the 158 individuals arrested).

Starting in 2021, Culver City is partnering on a two-year, $4.5 million program to improve the New Earth Organization’s infrastructure to enhance alternatives to detention, placement and incarceration. The program will allow the New Earth Organization to expand and improve the full array of wrap-around services and programs for system-involved and at-promise youth by building out a robust mental health department providing acute and individualized trauma care.

The Culver City Police Department’s Partnerships to Advance Youth (PAY) was created to engage the community’s youth, build relationships, foster trust and legitimacy, and divert young people from the criminal justice system. PAY focuses on partnerships and engagement between youths ages 12 to 18 and the men and women of CCPD.  PAY provides an informal, educational, fun, and safe environment. PAY hosts various and continuous organized activities such as teambuilding exercises, discussion forums, exercise groups, mentorship activities, and volunteer work in the community.

Culver City will continue to seek ways to align with the Los Angeles County Alternatives to Incarceration Initiative with the goal of reducing police interaction, arrests and prosecutions for minor misdemeanors.

Learn more about Alternatives to Incarceration.

The City asked the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM) to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Culver City Police Department. CPSM’s January 2021 report provided 129 recommendations for improvements to staffing, operations, effectiveness, and efficiency.  As of June 2021, CCPD has completed 65% of all recommendations contained in the report. 

The City asked Solidarity Consulting to examine racial equity as it relates to public safety at the Culver City Police Department. Key recommendations from the January 2021 report include removing law enforcement from mental health calls for service and traffic enforcement, aligning with alternatives to incarceration, and focusing on youth diversion.

On June 15, 2020, with the support of the entire City Council, Culver City’s Mayor signed Former President Barack Obama’s Mayor’s Pledge. By committing to the Pledge, the City committed take the following actions:

• Review police use of force policies.
• Engage communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories in the review.
• Report the findings of the review to the community and seek feedback.
• Reform the police use of force policies.

The City has fulfilled the pledge through such actions as the Use of Force review and changes, the creation of the Chief’s Advisory Panel and Citizen Public Safety Committee, the Police Operations and Data Analysis, and the Racial Equity and Social Justice review, as well as the numerous public City Council meetings held on the subject of police reform throughout 2020 and 2021.

Culver City will create a Citizen Public Safety Committee (CPSC) made up of community members representative of Culver City’s diversity. The CPSC will eventually serve as an oversight body for public safety services. The City Council Public Safety Sub-Committee is currently working to guide the creation of the CPSC.

The Chief’s Advisory Panel (CAP) is a group of people representative of our Culver City Community who provide a diverse community perspective and opinions to the Culver City Police Chief on matters related to the Police Department, including policies, procedures, new programs, and equipment. CAP includes adult community members, young adults (over the age of 16) selected by Culver City Unified School District officials, and City employees who underwent training from the Government Alliance on Race and Equality (GARE). The panel meets bi-monthly, or as needed, and was blindly selected by Culver City GARE members based on information in each panelist’s application. Learn more about the Chief’s Advisory Panel.

The Culver City Police Department is getting police officers out of their vehicles and patrolling the community on foot and on bicycles through its “Park, Bike, Walk and Talk” initiative. This change in deployment aims to increase interaction with police officers and community members daily, allowing officers to humanize themselves to the public they serve, as well as build partnerships that can be used to address crime and other challenges in a community-oriented manner. 

Learn more about Park, Bike, Walk and Talk.