The Los Angeles Police Department has reportedly ceased the routine online publication of numerous public records, a move that researchers and watchdogs suggest significantly hinders transparency and public oversight. Records that were once regularly accessible on the city's data portal, including dispatch call audio and communications of high-ranking officials, have largely disappeared since April 2025.
Nicholas Shapiro, a professor at UCLA and director of the Carceral Ecologies lab, observed the halt in postings on the city's NextRequest portal. He noted that while other city agencies continued their usual record releases, the LAPD's contributions ceased around April 2025. Shapiro's research indicates that new files stopped appearing, and the volume of public records requests submitted to the LAPD also drastically declined from hundreds per month to single digits. Analyzing over 63,000 requests between 2017 and 2026, Shapiro found LAPD records constituted more than a third of the total.
Shapiro argues that these records provided a crucial insight into the operations of the LAPD, a department often characterized by opacity. Their removal, he contends, transforms the LAPD into a "black hole of information," undermining its foundational role in city accountability and transparency. "The LAPD is supposed to be the cornerstone of accountability for the city and you can see that it is clearly failing to uphold that mission when it comes to transparency," Shapiro stated.
Public records are essential for residents, journalists, lawyers, academics, and advocacy groups to evaluate agency performance and identify areas for improvement, as mandated by the California Public Records Act. While agencies must respond to requests within 10 days and release public information "promptly," the LAPD has faced criticism for consistently exceeding typical response times and for allegedly abusing the "unusual circumstances" clause, which allows for extensions. Legal experts note that while not posting records previously made available may not be technically illegal, it deviates from best practices.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell acknowledged delays at a recent Police Commission meeting, citing an "understaffed" unit responsible for record review and release. He indicated the department is exploring technological solutions, such as AI, and considering redeploying civilian staff to address the backlog. However, the number of employees processing requests has recently fallen from 27 to 17. An internal LAPD report from mid-April revealed 1,860 open records requests, with approximately 40% exceeding the standard two-week turnaround. The report also highlighted a more than doubling of requests from 3,656 in 2020 to 8,123 in 2025, a surge attributed partly to new state laws requiring increased disclosure on officer misconduct and use-of-force incidents.
The escalating volume of requests, which has seen over 3,200 received in the first four months of this year alone, has outpaced current staffing capabilities. This has led to a backlog, with the department frequently facing lawsuits for failing to meet statutory deadlines, some resulting in financial settlements. One such settlement with the ACLU required the LAPD to implement a formal records release policy and conduct annual compliance audits.
