30% of ‘pretextual’ stops by Los Angeles officers nets evidence of other crimes, according to LAPD

About 10% of all traffic stops made by Los Angeles police officers in recent years were so-called pretextual stops, with roughly 30% of those resulting in evidence found related to other crimes, according to a nine-page report released by the department.

LAPD first started tracking pretextual stops in April 2022, a month after revising its policy restricting what the agency calls an “investigative tool” that curbs drug crimes and violence crime.

In general, a pretextual stop is when...