LAPD - Pacific Station

If you, a loved one or a family member has been arrested by or is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Pacific Division, it can cause a lot of worries. Facing such a situation, it is normal to need to know the bail amount (if any) associated with the offense if police deny an own recognizance (OR) release. It is also common to ask what evidence is needed to convict one for the crime that allegedly took place, the defenses possible and the sentence a judge can impose if one is convicted of the crime.

We at Greg Hill & Associates believe it is prudent to know a few more things before interacting with any branch of law enforcement. It can be wise to know the size of the police or sheriff’s department, the area’s demographics, the most common types of crime the department investigates and just a bit about the area’s history to make one’s communication with law enforcement more meaningful, more savvy and perhaps, more respectful. This can lead to a better outcome than if one lacks such perspective.

This article is presented with this goal in mind.

The LAPD Pacific Division is staffed with 253 sworn police officers and an unknown number of non-sworn staff personnel. This division serves Venice Beach, Oakwood, Mar Vista, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Palms and Westchester, which is an area of approximately 26 square miles. Tourists visit this area more than any other area in the western region of the United States. This is due to LAX being one of the busiest airports in the world.

Crime in this area is higher than in other areas of the county, with auto burglaries and petty theft particularly high.

Westchester, Mar Vista and Venice are recognized by criminal defense attorneys as relatively rough area. The Venice 13 is one gang that has a reputation for violence. In 2007, this gang fired shots, from a vehicle leaving Venice High School, at alleged rival Culver City members who were standing outside the SHOP-4 building at approximately 2:58 pm.

The incident began with an argument, including gang identification, which then led to gunfire. Three people were shot, but all survived.

This incident led to more public recognition of the Venice 13 gang, abbreviated as V13 or VX3. It has been described as a Mexican American street gang based in the Oakwood (aka "Ghost Town") neighborhood of Venice. The gang has a substantial presence in East Venice as well as the Culver City/Los Angeles border, especially around Washington Blvd.

The gang dates back to the 1960’s, and has long been known as one of the most dangerous street gangs on the Los Angeles Westside. It was amongst the first Mexican gangs to fight gang wars against African-American gangs, especially the local Venice Shoreline Crips which were founded in the mid-1970s. It is affiliated with the Sureños and the Mexican Mafia.

Westchester, as the reader may know, is just west of Inglewood, which is a predominantly African American and Hispanic community with several gangs that are active. Westchester is less crime-ridden, as it is populated with students attending and faculty employed at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester.

Playa Vista, just north of Westchester, is a sparsely populated area, although it has a large population of renters as well as condominium owners.

Playa Del Rey, to the west of the I-405, and Palms, a popular area for UCLA students, are the other areas served by the Pacific Division. Both areas have an ethnic mix that is composed of more Whites than other areas in Los Angeles County.

In Palms, almost half the residents (45.9%) had a four-year degree, which was a high figure compared to the city as a whole. The percentage of residents aged 19 to 34 was among the county's highest.

Until the early 1960s, most of Palms was single-family homes and small duplexes and triplexes, most of which were built in the Craftsman and Spanish Colonial styles that dominated Southern California in the first quarter of the 20th century. Under pressure to provide affordable housing, the city of Los Angeles rezoned most of the district for large multifamily dwellings. This resulted in most of Palms' historic housing stock being razed and replaced with two-story (or larger) apartment buildings. Very few original houses remain, and many of those are on lots where additional housing units have been built on what were once backyards. Palms is now one of Los Angeles' most densely populated neighborhoods.