Law Enforcement in Los Angeles County
When it comes to criminal defense, law enforcement is basically those individuals who investigate crimes. There are a number of different branches of law enforcement, and sometimes, people get confused. In Los Angeles, the main two branches of law enforcement state-wide are the sheriffs and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). They investigate all crimes, and their jurisdiction is carved up for them.
For example, the sheriffs control everything to the west of Valley Circle in the San Fernando Valley, while the LAPD controls the rest of the Valley. Still, the sheriffs also have other jurisdictions like Calabasas and other areas across Los Angeles County.
So, when a crime occurs, the jurisdiction is going to be dictated by whatever contract or LAPD has with the county. There are also other federal law enforcement branches, such as the DEA—the Drug Enforcement Agency—Fire Arms and Tobacco. It even runs deeper than that.
For example, the California lottery has its own investigative branch, and there are other state agencies that have investigative branches. When they're done with their investigation on a case, they turn that over to either the LAPD or the sheriff, depending on who has jurisdiction.
So, it is a bit complicated when it comes to trying to figure out who is in charge of what crime, but the authorities know. Sometimes, there needs to be more clarity. People will get arrested by the sheriffs, and the sheriffs will get confused about which jurisdiction controls a particular case, and a lot of times, they'll actually send them to the wrong court in Los Angeles, and then that court will realize where the arrest took place, and then they will change the court location. No court is going to deal with a case that's outside their jurisdiction.
Investigating a Crime
So, when law enforcement gets involved with a case, they basically do what they do—depending on how serious and sophisticated the case is, sometimes they will just make an arrest right on the spot and try to get a confession.
Other times, if it's a more serious case or a complicated case like sex crime case for example, or some sort of a fraud case where a lot of money is being stolen and records need to be reviewed and decisions need to be made and search warrants need to be executed, then they might coordinate with a prosecutorial branch like the District Attorney's Office or the City Attorney's Office.
There are also code enforcement/law enforcement people involved. For example, if marijuana shops are illegally operating in downtown Los Angeles, certain investigative agencies deal with that, and they will typically turn it over to the City Attorney to handle.
So, just because the sheriffs and the Los Angeles Police Department are the most visible law enforcement officers in Los Angeles, that doesn't mean they're the only ones out there investigating. Depending on the section, they have other teams of investigators.
For example, if it's health care fraud, you'll have certain investigators who deal with that. If it's prostitution, you'll have certain investigators who deal with that. If it has to do with bars and alcohol, for example, ABC, Alcohol Beverage Control, is going to monitor that, and then some of the law enforcement agencies actually have the ability to make their own arrests.
For example, campus police – take Cal State North University – they have their campus police. I see cases where they arrest people on campus – students or other people entering the campus and those law enforcement officers will send the case to the District Attorney's Office, prosecute the case, or they can call in other law enforcement officers like the LAPD to come in and assist them with the arrest; assist them with writing the police report in the case.
Prosecutors Decide What Charges to File
So, no matter what law enforcement branch is dealing with a particular case, they all answer to the prosecutors. The prosecutors are lawyers.
They are the ones who decide what charges to file and what charges not to file, and a lot of times, these law enforcement officers have to meet with the prosecutors and show them what evidence they have so the prosecutors can decide whether or not they're going to file a case. A lot of times, the prosecutors will say to the law enforcement officers, I see what you have investigated here.
The problem is that you didn't do some of the necessary investigation. I'm not going to file this case today, and then the defendant who shows up in court that day will be told that either their case was rejected or their case was set out for another date for further investigation.
That means the prosecutors have decided the case needs more investigation before they file it. They want to make sure that if they file it, they can successfully prosecute the person for the crime because they know a good defense attorney is going to come in and try to upend their case and attack their evidence.
They need to deal with that right up front to make sure they have the evidence. Trying to deal with it in the middle of the case is sometimes very difficult, so they need to try to get it all together, and they're going to use law enforcement officers. So, the prosecutors charge the case as law enforcement officers are typically investigating the cases.
But believe it or not, the District Attorney's office has its investigators that they can use who are part of the law enforcement team as well.
