Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: LAPPL Seeks Investigation into Alleged Attempt by Councilman to Avoid Ticket – Legal Perspective
The Los Angeles Police Protective League Thursday called for an investigation into City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson alleging he misused his position to avoid a traffic ticket.
The LAPPL — which represents Los Angeles Police Department officers ranked lieutenant and below — formally requested that District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto to investigate what the union described as “credible reports” of a possible violation of California Penal Code 148(a)(1) by Harris-Dawson during a traffic enforcement stop on March 4. Union representatives referred to California law that makes it a crime to willfully resist, delay or obstruct any peace officer in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment.
Cerrina Tayag-Rivera, senior communications deputy for Harris-Dawson’s office, sent an email response to City News Service, saying “Just like pretextual traffic stops, the call for these pointless investigations violates the public trust, is wholly ineffective and wastes precious resources that could be used to keep us safe.
“This points to a broader issue at stake: Data shows that Black and Brown residents are disproportionately targeted for these stops, and all too rarely do they lead to a reduction in crime or improved traffic safety. The Council President has introduced a policy to end this form of racialized policing, and the Police Union is trying to distract from the immediate need for policy change,” Tayag-Rivera said.
During a morning news conference at City Hall, Mayor Karen Bass said she had no idea about LAPPL’s calls for an investigation of the City Council president.
“I need to find out about it. I can’t imagine why the council president needs to be investigated, but this is throwing me for a loop.”
LAPPL cited a report published by the California Post, which detailed that Harris-Dawson was stopped by a Los Angeles Unified School District police officer two weeks ago.
The officer observed a moving violation near a high school during morning drop-off, according to the report.
The California Post — citing sources with knowledge of the incident — reported that during the stop Harris-Dawson allegedly called a friend who is an elected member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education in an “apparent effort to get out of the citation.”
“If the reports are true, it is unethical and potentially illegal for a city leader to use their position of power to attempt to avoid accountability for their reckless driving in a school zone. The public deserves to know what was said during this phone call that apparently took place while Council President Harris-Dawson was pulled over for a moving violation,” LAPPL President Ricky Mendoza said in a statement. “We urge the DA and City Attorney to hold this very powerful elected official accountable if in fact he violated the law.”
The LAPPL’s action comes after Harris-Dawson discussed the traffic stop when he provided testimony on March 6 during a joint meeting of the City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Unarmed Crisis Prevention, Intervention and Community Services, as well as the Transportation Committee.
Members of the two committees met to discuss data on pretextual vehicle stops and a proposal to alter policy allowing LAPD officers to take such actions.
“Pretextual stops are unconstitutional in this city and everywhere else that they’re done in this country,” Harris-Dawson said during the meeting on March 6. “They are racially biased, and they are, in this city, ineffective. They do not deliver greater safety, both either traffic safety or crime prevention in any demonstrable way.”
He added that pre-textual vehicle stops are among “the most traumatic experiences that you have living in this country.” The council president emphasized that the tactic happens to everybody from all walks of life from a young adult on their way to college to a dad with children in the car.
“I’ve been stopped four times, as recently as Wednesday,” Harris-Dawson said. “Some of you, I think Mr. (John Lee) sits on the Rules Committee. You know, I didn’t make it to rules on Wednesday because I got pulled over.”
LAPPL argued Harris-Dawson’s testimony was highly selective and failed to disclose that he was pulled over for a moving violation. The union added, “He misled the council committee and the public, and next week we will be taking steps to address his lie of omission before Los Angeles’ governing body.”
Meanwhile, the City Council is expected to discuss and vote on the proposal to alter the LAPD’s policy on pretextual vehicle stops once agendized by Harris-Dawson.
LAPD’s pretextual stop policy allows officers to make stop drivers for minor traffic violations that are then used as means for an investigative stop. In March 2022, LAPD and city elected officials updated the policy, requiring officers to provide “articulatable information” and explain their reasons for the stop.
Los Angeles Department of Transportation officials have recommended removing all non-moving and equipment-related traffic violations as reasons for a pretextual stop.
“Ultimately, the goal of this recommendation is to limit interactions between police and motorists by eliminating police enforcement of non-moving and equipment violations,” according to a LADOT report. “This recommendation expands on LAPD’s March 2022 policy change, which limits pretextual stops. It is also informed by policies enacted in other cities like Philadelphia, where they limited the ability of police to stop motorists for specific minor violations.”
Leslie Cooper Johnson, vice president of programs and organizational culture for the South L.A.-based Community Coalition, and Chauncee Smith, an associate director for Catalyst California, addressed the committee on behalf of a coalition called Promoting Unity, Safety and Health in Los Angeles, or PUSH LA.
The group formed in 2018 in response to what they described as “decades of racist policing that has plagued Black and Brown communities.”
Johnson said her group has endorsed a plan to ban pretextual stops for equipment and non-moving violations, similar to LADOT’s recommendation. Additionally, they are calling for a ban on so-called “consent searches” during traffic stops unless officers have a valid warrant, probable cause or another legal basis.
PUSH LA is also advocating for a limit on traffic ticket fees and fines for low-income people, street safety infrastructure and an expansion of the city’s unarmed response programs.
She added that they are not asking for pretextual stops related to moving violations to end.
“If someone is speeding down the street at 100 miles per hour, they should be stopped as this behavior presents a real threat to public safety,” Johnson added. “We are also not advocating for no accountability for drivers.”
She urged the city to implement technology such as speeding cameras to ensure equipment and administrative violations are enforced.
Henry Flatt, a legislative analyst for Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, summarized a report that his team produced, which examined the pretextual stop policy between April 2022 to September 2025. The report used data compiled by the LAPD and found there were approximately 760,000 total traffic stops during that time frame — about 9% of which were pretextual. Of those stops, over two-thirds resulted in a warning with no further corrective action.
Pretextual stops were concentrated in Council Districts 8, 9, 14 and 15 (encompassing neighborhoods in South L.A., downtown, East Los Angeles and the Bay area), accounting for nearly half — about 48% of all stops.
Approximately 86% of pretextual stops involved individuals whom LAPD officers perceived to be Black or Latino. And 85% of pretextual stops were individuals the officers perceived to be men.
LAPD Assistant Chief Emada Tingirides said there would be multiple impacts if the policy were to be further limited.
Tingirides, who is Black, said she understands the concern, trauma and stress associated with being pulled over by a police officer, as well as the concern in communities with violent crime.
She emphasized that there needs to be a balanced approach when addressing public safety to include traffic fatalities and violent crime. She further noted there are multiple efforts to address these issues via unarmed-response model programs and gang-reduction efforts, among other things.
“It takes all of us, and there’s not one way that we’re going to be able to address public safety in one realm,” Tinigrides said. “We need police for traffic safety.”