Culver City Police Department

If you, a family member or a loved one is arrested or under investigation by the Culver City Police Department, it is natural to want to know what bail amount is associated with the offense at issue, the factual and legal requirements to prove the crime took place, the defenses that are possible and the potential punishment if convicted of the crime.

We at Greg Hill & Associates recommend that one also be aware of a few more things before interacting with the Culver City Police Department.  It is prudent to know the size of the police department, the demographics of the city, the most frequent types of crime the Culver City Police Department investigates / handles and just a bit about the city’s history to make one’s communication with the police more savvy, more meaningful and perhaps, more respectful.  This can lead to a better outcome than if one is not so informed.

This article is presented with this goal in mind.

The Culver City Police Department has 109 sworn police officers and fifty-two civilians on its staff.  The department also has twelve reserve officers and nineteen volunteers that help the department. This makes it one of larger police departments within Los Angeles County and is particularly remarkable because the City of Culver City only covers 5.2 square miles.

Thirty-five percent of the police officers in Culver City are White and forty-one percent are Hispanic.  Fifteen are African American and eight are Asian.

The 2020 census of Culver City revealed that 46.9 percent of the city is White, 20.3 percent is Hispanic and 17.6 percent is Asian.  Eight percent is Black.  14.7% identifies as being mixed-race.

Only 40,000 people live in Culver City, but approximately 300,000 people work there during the day, which perhaps explains the large size of the police department.

The most common crime reported in Culver City is larceny, or theft, which can include a wide variety of stealing, from shoplifting to grand theft.  There were seventy-one burglaries reported in Culver City in the first quarter of 2024, compared with sixty-four automobile thefts.  

There were sixty-six instances of vandalism and seventy-eight reports of financial crimes (including identity theft).  There were seventy-seven investigations involving drugs / controlled substances and seventy-two reported cases of drug paraphernalia.  There were also sixty simple assaults. 

Of over 11,000 calls for service to the Culver City Police Department during this quarter, only 0.3% resulted in the use of force, mostly just taking the suspect to the ground.

Culver City has twenty “red-light” cameras within the city.  In 2023, there were 41,573 citations sent to motorists from these cameras.

In the 1920's, the city became a center for film and later television production, best known as the home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios from 1924 to 1986.  It has also been home to Sony Pictures Entertainment.  The Wizard of Oz, King Kong, E.T., Grease, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Moneyball are just some of the thousands of films produced in Culver City.  Jeopardy, the Andy Griffith Show, Hell’s Kitchen, Wheel of Fortune and the Wonder Years are just a few of the television shows produced in Culver City.

In the early 1990’s, Culver City launched a successful revitalization program in which it renovated its downtown as well as several shopping centers in the Sepulveda Boulevard corridor near Westfield Culver City.  Around the same time, Sony’s motion picture subsidiaries, Columbia Pictures and Tristar Pictures, moved into the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot which was renamed Columbia Studios in 1990 and took on its current name, Sony Pictures Studios, a year later. and National Public Radio over the years. 

Sony is the largest employer in Culver City, employing approximately 3,000 workers.  The Westfield Mall in Culver City is the second-largest employer, employing approximately 1,500 people. 

Culver City is perhaps most well-known for Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club, which was a night club located at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and National, near what is now the Culver City station.  Mr. Sebastian ran the club from 1926 until 1938.  Performers at the club included jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton.  According to a Daily News article published in 1953, the music was in part intended to cover up the sound of the illegal casino operating upstairs.

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