LA County Jail LASD

A Look at the Data – Jail Bookings in LA County

Taylor Walker
Written by Taylor Walker

A new white paper from Million Dollar Hoods dives into LA County data detailing jail bookings occurring between 2010 and 2016.

The number of people booked into the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s jail dropped from 150,948 in 2010 to 119,821 in 2016. Yet, the county ramped up its enforcement efforts against homeless individuals during that time, and disparities remain deeply embedded in the system.

Twenty-two percent of people who entered jail during those years reported that they were unemployed at the time of their booking.

The most common home zip codes among people jailed by the county were in South LA, Compton, Long Beach, and the Antelope Valley–communities that are “home to some of the County’s highest unemployment rates and lowest incomes,” according to the report.

Not only did many of the people locked up from “struggling” communities, but the number of homeless people booked into jail jumped 41 percent, from 11,725 in 2010, to 16,567 in 2016.

And while black people comprise 8 percent of LA County’s population, they made up 29 percent of those sent to jail between 2010 and 2016. In comparison, white people accounted for 27 percent of the county population, but 18 percent of jail admissions. Latinx booking numbers mirrored their population percentages, but still rose during those years, “revealing an upward trend in Latinx bookings into the County jail.”

For the 59 percent of bookings (567,124) between 2010 and 2016 that were for single charges, men were most likely to head to jail for violating the terms of their supervision, DUI, possessing a controlled substance, driving on a suspended or revoked license, and spousal abuse. The top five single charges for women were possession of a controlled substance, DUI, driving on a suspended or revoked license, prostitution or solicitation, and theft or shoplifting. (Black women were far and away the most likely to be booked into jail on prostitution/solicitation charges.)

The county coughed up at least $315 million over the six years to incarcerate single-charge defendants for DUIs and drug possession. Despite the fact that, following the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014, LA’s deputies booked far fewer people into jail for simple possession, “Los Angeles County continued to spend tens of millions of dollars to jail persons booked on substance-abuse related charges,” the report states. “In 2015 and 2016 alone, Los Angeles County spent at least $49 million incarcerating individuals booked on a single charge for either DUI or possession of a controlled substance.”

The sheriff’s department spent at least $389 million locking people up for ten days or less, according to the report. (Ten days was the median number of days spent in jail. The average was 47 days.)

Thirteen percent of all of the jail entries based on single charges were for supervision violations. These violations landed Angelenos in jail for an average of 32 days (median of 19 days).

In addition to more serious violations like committing additional crimes, individuals on probation and parole are often re-incarcerated for missteps that include missing their appointments, failing drug tests, and not having employment, which, according to criminal justice experts, unnecessarily pushes people deeper into the criminal justice system cycle.

Moreover, experts increasingly agree that the number of people on probation and parole across the nation could be cut back significantly, while still maintaining public safety.


  • I’m so glad you reported on this (Earth-shattering) report, Taylor. I was REALLY surprised that blacks and Latinos commit crimes more often than whites, I hadn’t ever heard of this trend (except in every other major city in the country).

    Once again, your spot-on reporting of reports PROVES that most cops (even the self-hating black and Latino cops) are racists and are purposely targeting these “struggling” parts of our cities. What’s more is that the prosecutors, public defenders, judges and county jails are ALSO racist.

    Another SHOCKING phenomena is the rise in arrests of homeless people. I mean, we could understand this if the homeless population had increased in LA over the last several years, but we KNOW that hasn’t happened.

    Taylor, it’s apparent you and the movement you champion feel there are lots of people in jail who don’t belong there. I know you think the makeup of our jails should reflect the racial percentages of the community (regardless of who’s actually committing crimes), but I wonder what crimes you think merit jail time. Burglary? Robbery? Rape? Murder? Child molestation? Do you think ANY of these people should be in jail?

    • Spot on. Terrible reporting by another leftist dem who refuses to analyze the issue through hard facts and instead uses emotion and illogical ideologies to base their opinions.

  • They always leave the Asians out when they’re playing the racial statistics game. Of course if you were to bring that up to the experts at Million Dollar Hoods they would start frothing and sputtering about how that somehow only proves more racism or something.

    I do love the name “Million Dollar Hoods” though it’s one of those mashed up phrases that sounds kinda catchy but really doesn’t make any sense. Kinda like “a clockwork orange” or “Nazi low riders”

  • “Experts increasingly agree that the number of people on probation and parole across the nation could be cut back significantly, while still maintaining public safety.”

    Who are these experts? And what makes them expert? What percentage of them are college professors versus people who actually, you know, have ever worked in the criminal justice system?

    This article reads as if it were written by a high school freshman.

  • Taylor:. African Americans (blacks) make up only 13% of the US population. Yet, recent FBI statistics show they account for approx 38% of arrests Nationwide. So what does that mean? Do blacks commit more crimes than other races? Are they being unduly targeted by law enforcement? Even if unduly targeted by law enforcement are still guilty of the arrestable offenses or are law enforcement lying on police reports, planting evidence. . Etc…..perhaps you could send some time and solve that riddle.

  • Gentlemen, calm down. Reading your comments, one would get the impression that you think you are smarter than Taylor.

    First, LASD Apsotle, I do not think the report says black people commit more crime that white people. Whether you like to believe it or not, similar to Trump claiming his inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama’s, the literature is clear. White people get off easier than blacks – ALL THINGS EQUAL (please understand this concept. This “All things equal” concept is very important), blacks are more likely to be arrested for the same crime, they will be overcharged relative to whites, get worst plea deals than whites, and get harsher sentences than whites. Those are facts. Do you really dispute that this is the case. For god’s sake, pick up a book, and not one of Bill O’Riely’s Killing This or That books or the bible, but something a bit more substantive. I know they tend to have longer words and no pictures, but gentlemen, you cannot go through life with this level of ignorance. There are crimes that blacks commit more of than whites and some that whites commit more than blacks. Drug use is a perfect example, overwhelmingly, the literature says drug use and drug sales are about equal between blacks and whites, yet black are overwhelming arrested, charged and convicted for drug offenses relative to whites.

    Major Kong, as usual, your intellect shines through. It depends what Asians you are talking about, Cambodians, Laotians, or Japanese. Let us not talk about how your brethren in uniform treat Cambodians, for example. Almost as bad as blacks and browns. And, you conveniently leave out the Asians, too. I get a good chuckle each time some white girl tries to challenge some affirmative action program because “her seat” went to some brother. The truth is that white girl still would not have gotten in because it probably would have gotten to some Asian. Listen, I am not black, but I recognize that no other people, maybe with the exception of native Americans, has had it as worse as blacks in this country. What amazes me is not there remain some issues, but how far they have come given a couple hundred years of slavery, another hundred of apartheid and 50 or so of scond class citizenship. Otherwise, they, too, would eat your lunch. I’m sure you were not happy when they came on the force.

    On the Patch, I probably would not talk about high school writing given how you guys write police reports. The spelling and grammar are atrocious. I am a terrible writer, but I always feel good about my writing when I read police reports. Despite your woefully inadequate attempts at sounding a bit educated and learned, at best the folks spewing the nonsense in response to Taylor’s article are security guards with nice salaries and pensions. Please do not flatter yourself. You may do well sticking to riding around in a patrol car picking on black kids. Even if Taylor gave you the information on these studies and experts, you would not, and probably could not, read it and it would do nothing to change your mine. To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

    • Cf “it depends what Asians you’re talking about”. Calling BS on that one cf. Cambodians, more bs cf, if it were true “million dollar hoods” would be all over it. You’ve been watching too much decoded on the old you tube girl, it would benefit you to get out a little more.

    • TL; DR.

      This is an absurdly long, non-serious response. But what do I know? I only have over 15 years’ experience and a master’s degree. Please, tell me more about what a dumb racist I am (without actually grappling with anything I or others had to say).


    • C.F. stated undisputed facts.

      To refute his comments on this thread would be total denial. I laugh more at C.F.’s detractors as they try to silence him/her.

      • Cf is that you pretending to be someone else and agreeing with yourself again? (She always dumbs down her alter-ego when she pulls this stunt, sometimes she tries using the accent of a person of color too)

        • How does one use an accent of a person of color on a keyboard?

          FYI, I know it’s hard for you to believe that someone agrees with the facts of C.F.

  • FYI….policy reports are written at a level the average juror can understand. So if that’s at a junior high level do be it. Many an educated cop has been told to keep it short and simple, and to use direct, short sentences and common basic language to articulate the events on an arrest report.

    Please stop the far off base accusations and criticism about matters you clearly have no direct experience in or know anything about.


  • Racism is an obvious issue in the criminal justice system not just because of who commits crimes but because of the lack of support and resources for the underprivileged. A good start would be legalizing all drugs and prostitution, which are victimless crimes. Tax everything and make money off of this. For those who commit crimes, give them a friggin job so they dont have to go back to jail. It would be cheaper to employ them than continue the criminal cycle. We have too many laws and no respect for our people. Heck we could get rid of most of the police this way.

  • Gentlemen, why the hostility. In the words of the late, great Rodoney King, Can’t we all just get along.

    Madame Kong, give me something factual. This, “I do not beleive it…,” is not sufficient. No doubt you are an anti-vaxxer, Jesus-Christ-is-coming-back kind of guy. The bottom line, gentlemen, is that crime is way down and it was not your policing that did it. For years the LAPD has bitched about how it needs more officers, always wanting to cross that magic 10,000 officer figure, yet crime is way down despite no or minimal growth in the police force. Crime continues to go down despite the reduction in stop-and -frisk after the courts made the police stop. You are not as important as you think you are. You are not the heroes that you think you are. You are not the warriors that you think you are. And, quite frankly your budget is, like many an officer, too bloated. Most of you are glorified security guards, driving around, harassing a few black kids, issuing a few citations and making mostly misdemeanor arrests. Maybe some of that money and that overtime could be used for mental health service for people like that killed that shot the sheriff’s officer.

    Dumb on the Patch, please, 15 years doing the same old, same old is not impressive. I have seen at Winchell’s what 15 years on the force, with a cushy salary and pension and none of the stress of a private sector does to an officer. And, I know folks with PhDs that are as dumb as me. Your master’s degree does not impress me. I’m sure you got it for the bump in salary and benefits it gives you. Do you not even question the matter when you hear that every other industrialized nation incarcerates a significantly lower percentage of its population than we do? Do you not question why there are more blacks in prison for drug offenses when white use and sell at the same rate? It takes effort, but it is worthwhile to think every now and then. I know going home and watching Sean Hannity after a long day driving around in circles in the patrol car seems appealing, but maybe a book or a newspaper every once in while.

    Let’s Hear More – Simplicity can be great, as can short, direct sentences in common language, but that is not what those report reflect. Law enforcement is one of the few areas where departments actually try to keep higher IQ individuals off the force. I am sure you are familiar with some of the cases where prospective officers get denied a job because he had a high IQ.

    • “like people that killed that Sheriff’s officer” don’t hold back cf, let everyone know what you really think.

    • Commrade Party Leader Conspiracy….

      Yet again, pulling “you not what out of you no where”….and it stinks. Your assertions and “opinio-facts” only go to support the truth… have no clue what your talking about. Stay out of areas you know little to nothing about, it only helps to clue others in that you are everything you project onto others. Small minded, opionated, ignorant of the truth, envious, full of that liberal “do gooder type of condescending racism”, prejudiced and possesing of a very low IQ.

      Spew more……

    • CF, you seem to be an extremely intelligent individual. Perhaps you should run for office and solve all these problems. It should take you no longer than 4-8yrs.

      As for cops just being security officers, “I have a dream” (sound familiar) that for 48 hours ( and every knows about it) no one answers the 911 lines no one drives around no one cares, just sit in the break room watching Fox News. Let nature take its course and see what kind of social disaster occurs. Then take the statically information afterwards and apply it to this artical. Perhaps we can get a true reading of what happens.

      Everyone takes statically information and says “Look what I found!” If you really want to change society then start at the root of the problem….. which in my humble opinion (because according to CF no one knows more then he/she) it all starts with the family nucleus. Families with parents who don’t care about raising their children to be productive members of society cause more problems. Parents who don’t take an active role in their child’s lives, parents who blame everything and everyone else cause the problems we face today. If you don’t have the time to raise a child then don’t have them. If you have to work two jobs to make ends meet don’t have them. If you think that your life is so hard then don’t have them. If you are willing to put your life on hold for 21yrs then have one. This way of thinking will not gaurentee a perfect society but it will keep society from being what it is today.

  • CF; What do you mean by “overcharge”? You’ve said it a few times. Are you alleging that DA’s are stacking on charges the suspect of color wasn’t arrested for? Please give a real life example when a person of color that was “Over Charged”.

    • Perhaps C.F. is attempting to put in terms that “overcharged” is when a “person of color” is hit with the heavier charge.

      Prime example would be a murder charge when it is obviously a manslaughter.

      Another example would be a burglary charge instead of a petty theft.

      We all know that the key word is intent which is another story depending upon how the police report is written.

      The best example with the worst real life scenario and outcome would be the Central Park 5.
      This was a case when there was never crime committed by these five black teens who were charged and convicted anyway.

  • Or OJ who was just minding his own business when his wife and her friend were brutally slaughtered by Columbian drug lords. Talk about a travesty of Justice…..

  • Ownership, if you are law enforcement, a prosecutor or are just a hanger-on of either, you know what I am talking about. Nevertheless, I will humor you. Overcharging is when you arrest someone for one thing, something or some incident, but you add several other charges arising out of the same thing or incident, perhaps some that are a stretch. By way of example, you arrest a brother with a little weed, you can charge him, at least in the past, with possession, but because he is a brother or he gave you attitude, you or the DA know add possession for sale, or, because he gave you a little attitude, you now add failure to comply or resisting arrest, and so on. Or, some kid goes into Walmart and pockets something, you can charge him with shoplifting or petty theft, but he because he gave you attitude, now he faces burglary. You and the DA have a lot of discretion and you seem to give white people better deals, say the white kid only gets possession, but the black kid gets a possession for sale charge. Brings back memories?

    Bandwagon, no, OJ killed them. No doubt about that, but that brother had money and celebrity and could afford to bet the farm, get off and in between make the LAPD and the DA look like clowns. Any other brother from the hood would have been on the waiting list to get the needle. OJ had the money to look far and wide and get a recording of Mark Fuhrman throwing a “nigga” here and a “Nigga” there, which did not help. Of course, Mark Fuhrman was the exception, and other on the force do not use that word and would not lie.

  • ???????????

    You’re clueless. Petty Theft and Burglary have different elements. A field deputy cannot create intent no matter what people think. The case is submitted to the DA and they file what they deem appropriate. As a matter of fact, burglaries are more often than not dropped to a Petty Theft. For black people too.

    Murder and Manslaughter is the same as above.

    The Central Park 5 has absolutely no barring on this conversation and shows your reaching hard.

    • You’re (not your) not fooling anyone with the brush off.

      Between the written report and actual purported crime, you know damn well that the stated intent can go from a petty theft to a burglary depending on the cop’s mood.

      The burglary drops to a petty theft when you don’t have a burglary, Duh! The D.A. can usually read through the B.S. It happens all the time.

  • Madame Dong, “weak sauce?” Does everything have to be food with you? And, what do mean by asking me to let everyone know what I really think? It’s there for you to read. I feel bad for the officer’s family. I do not think he deserved to die. And, I feel for the young man that killed him and for his family. Unlike you, I do not take pleasure in others’ pain. I do not think it makes it me a cop-hater to say that cops are not heroes. I do not think it makes me a cop-hater to say rogue cops should be criminally prosecuted, that lying cops should be prosecuted and off the force, and that excessive force and racial profiling have no place in policing and that those do either should not me on the taxpayers dime. You need thicker skin, or a thicker hide, Madame Dong.

    And, Ownership, what are you talking about the Central Park 5 have no bearing on this conversation. They are an example of what is wrong with the police and the prosecutors and the whole damn justice system. If they had been white kids you would be outraged. If they had been your kids you would be outraged. The police and the prosecutor fucked up, and they do it more often than people know. When something like that happens, whether the cops and prosecutor acted maliciously or just carelessly, it matters not to me and you have to recognize and accept that someone, somewhere fucked up, and they should pay a price. It happens in every job, you fuck up you pay a price. The kids at Winchell’s drops your donuts on the floor and the manager can fire him, no questions asked, no reason needed. Someone that sends 5 young men to prison for something they did not do, even if they were just careless, should lose more than a book deal.

    Finally, you representation of what happens and claim that the DA files what it “deems appropriate” is a joke, and you know it. You know well how the game is played, the numbers do not lie and neither does the video. The days when you could wallow in the mud and no one saw or knew how dirty you got are over.

    • That’s better cf, just make sure you keep behaving yourself, don’t want to have you taken out to the woodshed again.

  • CF: I would suggest a white guy with an attitude would get the same result “overcharging “ as the brother. You see it has nothing to do with color. It has to do with attitude. So if the brother kept his mouth shut he would be just fine.

  • CF: and let’s be honest about the OJ trial shall we. That was all about pay back and giving the middle finger to whitey. I was there when the jury was released. They were practically giving each other high fives.

    • You want to be honest and “keep it real”? Here we go…….

      1) A black man accused of murdering a white woman is definitely taboo.
      (Any death mirroring the same is tragic, regardless of race)

      2) Vannatter and “lying ass” Fuhrman cast more doubt than Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny combined.

      3) Yes, the high fives and cheers mimicked Whites cheering when Blacks were hung and lynched which also is not a good look.

      4) The monumental publicity would’ve been absent if the crime was black on black. It’s the truth and the truth can be ugly, shocking and hurtful.

      5) Both families of the deceased should be just as pissed at LAPD for botching the investigation, allowing the defense to have the visible edge.

  • CF: The jury reminded me of the Dave Chappelle skit were he is a potential juror in the RJ Kelly sexual assault trial. A video of the incident would not of made a difference.

  • Yes I guess you are right…all whites hates blacks and millions cheered as they were indiscriminately lynched…..except maybe the ones that fought during the civil war to release them from slavery…or the ones they helped them escape the south through the underground railroad. Or the white folks that were murdered during the civil rights era that went to the south to protest………yep….you can put your own spin on history anyway you like… god…..Furman used the “F” word…….wow……I guess that proves he planted evidence….you are right the truth can be hurtful…if you can admit it

  • Bandwagon, there you go again, whitewashing history. Of course there were some whites working on abolition and of course there were some standing up for civil rights, but they were few and the exception, so do not give yourself too much credit. And, there were blacks working for the master keeping the field negroes in check, but I do not think that absolves white people. Even up to the time of MLK’s death, the majority of white considered MLK was “hurting” the cause of civil rights, that he should be more patient. Regarding the civil war, you need to read more and get a deeper understanding. The civil war was about slavery, but neither the north nor Lincoln set out to free the slaves. Had they been able to preserve the Union without freeing the slaves, that would have been acceptable and Lincoln and the north said as much. No doubt you just read Bill O’Rilley’s Killing Lincoln, a fine work of scholarship.

    And, it was not Fuhrman’s use of the F-word that got him into trouble, but his loosely throwing around the word nigger, and then lying about it. I do not believe anyone planted evidence on OJ. The brother did it, no doubt. The police and the DA just got played for the idiots that they are, which is what happens when someone has the type of resources OJ could marshal. Convicting poor black kids is like shooting fish in a barrel, but when someone has that kind of resources they will make you look like the Keystone Cops.

    At least we have Chappell in common. That was a good show. But, if you remember the skit, Chappell mentioned one of reasons for doubting was that he had seen 5 videos were cops beat up or shot brothers and they got off. That really is were it happens, when police are on trial, which, to begin with, rarely happens, so you’ll be fine. Have a nice day.

  • CF: Sorry the “F” word was a typo. Point being that using the “N” word does not equate to planting evidence. And the old days of the DA taking care of cops is long gone my friend. Exhibit A: Arrests are down and crime is up.

    • Yes, you’re correct about the “N” word.

      Keep in mind that it was not using the term but lying about it under oath.
      That lie, under oath is a criminal offense called perjury.

      Why would any jurist believe a known liar knowing that one lie leads to another?
      I also wonder what Furhman’s answer would be if asked “Are you a racist?”
      Exactly! as we already know his answer.

  • I agree he committed perjury. He should have admitted the truth. I will suggest that using the “N” does not equate to being racist at least in law enforcement. When I have heard the term used it was always to describe the crinimal element in the community that preyed on its own people and others. I never heard it used in any other environment. Obviously there are exceptions…… obviously there are racists cops…I’m not sure you can include Mark Furhman in that group….

    • @ Bandwagon:
      What your your answer be if asked under oath
      “Have you ever used the “N” word?
      How often?
      Under what circumstances, on and off duty?

  • Yes. A couple of times during my career when speaking of the crinimal element both on and off duty. I also gave mouth to mouth to an elderly African American who suffered a heart attack on Central Ave in South Central. His heart had stopped and he was not breathing. While another officer gave compressions, I gave mouth to mouth without the benifit of any medical device. When he started spitting up vile, I wiped his mouth and continued mouth to mouth until the Fire Dept arrived. I put my own health at risk to save another human being. Which I believe supports my contention that using the “N” word doesn’t equate to being racist.

  • @ Bandwagon, while not agreeing to everything you say, I applaud you for a civil conversation without the craziness.

  • Old News. I agree. I grew up in San Jose and Milpitas in the early sixties. Color wasn’t an issue and my best friends (excuse the cliche) were black. We grew up together and race was not an issue. One old memory is watching Willlie Mays on TV (black and white) playing in his last All Star game. I believe in what MLK said a man should be judged by his character. I have enjoyed our conversations.

  • What’s the most likely determinant Of incarcerstion? Men are 48% of the population yet 90+ % of those encarcerated

    What’s the second most likely determinant? Socio economic status: destitute men encarcerated at highest rates. Nationwide poor white men encarcerated at higher rates than middle class Latino or middle class black men

    Third comes race, yet that’s what everyone concentrates on . Asians are the lease incarcerated, even below the rate of whites

    I know this data doesn’t help with the identity politics driven narrative, so I assume it will continue to be ignored

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