I would like to speak on item five. My name is Brian Jointer. I am a youth organizer in South Los Angeles. The last time I was here, I spoke about an incident where I was stopped by LAPD officers with my sons in a car and the car was searched. They found nothing and they completely humiliated me and my two sons. I'm here because these pretextual stops have become out of hand. The 14th amendment gives us equal protection under the law. As people of color, we don't feel that protection. Now, these pretextual stops are said to have been claimed to stop crime and to be be able to conduct stops and which leads to other excuse me, which leads to other crimes. Well, that in itself lets you know …
▶ Play from 47:37Full brief
LA City Council Meeting - May 6, 2026
Everything we captured from this meeting — agenda items and public comment, with links into the recording.
Quotes and speaker names come from YouTube auto-generated captions. Verify against the recording before relying on them. Speaker names are extracted automatically; missing names are shown as “Unverified speaker”, never guessed.
Agenda items
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOBS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to the extension of appointment of Frederick Jackson as the Interim General Manager of the Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) Council File 26-0540
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOBS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to the appointments and reappointments of members to the Workforce Development Board (WDB) Council File 26-0485
- ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE REPORT relative to an assessment of the lithium-ion battery and vape pen disposal and recycling program Council File 26-0252
- HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to Seasonal Winter Shelter Program bed rate adjustment Council File 23-1348
- AD HOC COMMITTEE ON UNARMED CRISIS PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND COMMUNITY SERVICES REPORT and TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE REPORT relative to self-enforcing infrastructure and Mobility Plan 2035 for the Traffic Enforcement Alternatives Project. AD HOC COMMITTEE ON UNARMED CRISIS… Council File 20-0875
- CDs 4, 13 COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR, PERSONNEL AND HIRING COMMITTEE relative to proposed Resolution Authorities in connection with the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge Improvement Project Council File 05-0173-S2
- COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR, PERSONNEL AND HIRING COMMITTEE relative to proposed Amendment No. 2 to the 2023-2028 Memorandum of Understanding Clerical and Support Service Unit (MOU 03) to resolve scheduling and related compensation affecting Port Dispatchers Council File 26-0447
- COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR, PERSONNEL AND HIRING COMMITTEE relative to approval of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Load Dispatchers Unit (MOU 44) Represented by the Los Angeles Water and Power Dispatchers Association, for the Contract term of January 1, 2026… Council File 26-0448
Public comment
44 comment segments captured. Transcribed from auto-generated captions and excerpted for publication.
general topic, please, sir. General comment. sir., I would like to submit the documents that I have today for case reference number 256109, civil rights case. And these documents that I have, I just like to give them to the council today for review. We're asking the city council to remove a protective order to unseal records in our case. And these are the documents I'd like to sit to the council for to review to have that done for us. Thank you.
▶ Play from 48:58Yes., I'd like to speak on stop the stops., Item five. Yes. First of all,, I think we came a long way, the last couple of years, but now I'm starting to see these stops more frequently, and it's more like seem like it's more for intimidation. And I fear have a fear for my son because he is a licensed gun operator. So they getting more stopped more than anything. And the fear that is setting in our community is setting us back years that like year from like about 5 10 years ago. And so my concern is like where we going from here. I know I thought we all supposed to be working together to make sure we safe in these communities that our kids can drive safely in these communities. But now it …
▶ Play from 49:28item five, please. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 51:03agenda item five.
▶ Play from 52:12Hi, I would like to speak on item five. Hi, good morning. My name is Javier Nunes Verdugo. I am a UCLA student, but I also am a longived resident here of East Los Angeles City District 14., I'm also here to publicly comment on pancing the denouncement of pretextual stops. As again a longtime resident of LA, as someone who has family in different parts of Los Angeles, including South LA and South Central, I've seen the direct impacts that these pretextual stops have on our community members, on students, on minors who are being stopped by police unlawfully, unfairly just on the basis of racialized bias. And I with the short amount of time I have, I just want to uplift the demands of the Push …
▶ Play from 53:14Jen Coleman.
▶ Play from 56:11Hi, good morning. Item five and general comment. Thank you. Good morning, council president, council members. My name is Twi Peters. I am the vice president of Empowerment Congress, Southeast Neighborhood Council. I'm also a community advocate as well as a concerned parent of a young black male. Today I stand here because many black and brown families across Los Angeles are tired of living in fear over something as simple as a traffic stop. The recent incident involving our president counsel brought attention to an issue that my community has been dealing with for many years., for some it was shocking and for my my community it was familiar. Again, many black and brown drivers are pulled …
▶ Play from 58:53Good morning. I'm speaking on item five and public comment. Is that better? And, in 2024, I was driving home after a late night shift. While traveling on Western Century, officers from Los Angeles Police Department pulled me over. They first asked me if I had any tattoos or if I was in a gang. When I [snorts] asked why I had been stopped, they stated that my vehicle registration tags were expired. I responded that expired tags alone should not be a reason for the stop. The officers then told me to stop being a smartass, remove me from my vehicle, and detain me be behind their patrol car. They proceed to search my vehicle without my consent. After the search, they released me without issuing …
▶ Play from 1:01:22General comment. Public comments were designed to be heard by the public as well as representatives. So, I hope everyone is listening. I've heard hundreds of people here complain about extreme misconduct by public officials, including police and prosecutors. Yet, no one else is pressing for a military level investigation of public misconduct. There is one somewhat legitimate excuse for refusing to make this no cost request. It's if you are being extorted. I do believe that the crime of extortion is rampant since by its nature it is seldom reported. That's the reason the military is the appropriate body to investigate extreme misconduct. They're set up to be insulated from extortion threats. …
▶ Play from 1:02:45I wanted to speak on agenda item number five and public comment, please. Thank you. Hello everybody. Good morning. My name is Khil Hayes and I'm with the Brother Crusade., thank you for just taking the time to hear me out. Really, it's about my story and my experience about what I've dealt with. I remember when I was 18, me and my mother, we were leaving from the hospital, Kaiser, right by West LA Cadillac, and the first thing that we hear were sirens not even a mile away. And they pulled us over. The first thing I could think of and the first thing I could really recognize was my hands were on the dashboard as more of an instinct than more of anything of survival. So being in that type of …
▶ Play from 1:05:19to come up, just FYI for everyone here. So, if you request an item or multiple items plus general public comment, you'll see the timer set for the time for the item discussion. And then once you hear the buzzer, it'll switch over to a minute afterwards for your general public comment. So, if you'd like both, please let us know and make sure to stick around after the buzzers
▶ Play from 1:06:55Oh, and the microphone. You can you can adjust the microphone. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:07:34Number five. Good morning. My name is Chides and I come from West Adams representing the eighth district. [clears throat] I'm here to ask for the council members to vote against this traffic stops. I'm here to ask excuse me, one of my family members was detained and I believe it was due to their skin color. I do see it as a racial motive. I'm here against these injust traffic stops just only due to the color of our skin. And it's also not always just the driver. It's sometimes the wives and children that are in the car that are undocumented. [applause] Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:07:42Gracias.
▶ Play from 1:10:04good morning. My name is Elmer Raldon. I'm a resident of Council District 9. I also served on the LA city traffic enforcement alternatives advisory task force. The city convened this task force in 2022 and they entrusted us with making recommendations to the council and the recommendations that we made were for us to end police stops for minor traffic infractions. They are extremely harmful to the residents of this city. They are racially biased and they do not make our cities safer. I've lived through the stops myself through my 20s and early 30s when I was often pulled over simply for being brown, for being bald, and for being poor. I would get pulled over, often handcuffed at gunpoint in …
▶ Play from 1:13:19Good morning. and I'm here for public comment and item number five. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:15:38I would like to speak on item five. My name is Zida Rodriguez. I'm with Advocates for Peace and Urban Unity. I'm a case manager. I'm a community member. My name is Zaida Rodriguez. I'm with Advocates for Peace and Urban Unity. I am a case manager and I am a community member. I would like to speak on stop traffic stopping., starting with my son having problems him coming home, being stopped by the police. We live in the Figuroa corridor right on 104th in Figuroa. He's constantly being stopped by the police thinking that he's a John or he's out there having these young ladies having them sex trafficking that my neighbors have to come out and knock on my door to let me know that the police …
▶ Play from 1:17:19Good morning today. I'm number five in public announcement. Okay. My name is Howard Young and I work for chapter 2 the grid. We ain't have a homicide in about three four weeks now and that's the lowest in a long time. So what my colleagues and we are doing we saving the city of Los Angeles much money and let me go to the other album. when I was coming up I remember the police used to give us baseball cards and we had more of a respect for them. But now I fear him because not for me, for my kids and for the black and brown community. Don't stereotype me because I got a bald head or something that nature. If I got a ticket, give me my ticket. Don't make it to a criminal investigation. You dig …
▶ Play from 1:18:50Item number five. Hello. Good morning. My name is Si Celestino and I am from district A the eth district. I am against the racial stops because they are discriminatory to our community. Los Angeles LAPD waste us wastes a lot of public money and funds in the budget. and excuse me, a lot of public funds, more than in the entire budget that should be including youth development and human rights. That's all. Thank you. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:20:45Numerocoen. Item number five. Good morning. My name is Veronica and I live in the city of Los Angeles. My zip code is 9001A and I live in the 8th district. I'm here to ask the council to vote against unjustified and unreasonable traffic stops. We're here simply here asking for you to please stop these traffic stops that we are experiencing on the streets in fear. Mothers, fathers, families, gracias. [applause]
▶ Play from 1:22:04Good morning. Hi, my name is Monica de los Santos and I'm here to talk about article number five. I am a grandmother, a mother, and I am here to represent my community. And I would like the council to please put an end to the pretextual stops because this is affecting our families. because we are being attacked unjustly simply for being Latinos, simply for our appearance. And it's not just us. AfricanAmerican people are also suffering these attacks. The Gracias. And that is why I'm here. I am here because I would like you guys to vote for the community. I would I am here because I am afraid for the safety of our community. I worry about my daughters. I worry about my son-in-laws who are …
▶ Play from 1:23:40item five. My name is Cassima Thomas. I am a proud South Central resident, born and raised., when you look at me, what do you see? Do you see a dad? Do you see someone who is who has integrity? Do you see a community organizer? Or do you see a criminal? A few years ago, I was pulled over and a officer wrote a ticket but never gave me the ticket. And so when I went later to get my youth record expuned, a barrier was created for me. And if it wasn't for the resources I had, I would still be fighting to try to get that taken care of. Pre-textual stops are an extension of the fit the description, posing safety risk to our communities. They instill fear and lead to death by those who are …
▶ Play from 1:25:51Item number five. Hi everyone. My name is Eric Rodriguez and I'm here today to speak in favor of ending pretextual shops. This policy continues to disproportionately harm black and brown communities under the pretense of enhancing public safety. Earlier this year, a close family member of mine was pulled over on the freeway during peak traffic hour. As they recall, the officer justified the stop by citing a lack of permit, something that could not have been known prior to them pulling them over. This experience created significant stress and fear for everyone in the vehicle. The workers felt targeted for simply transporting items and the situation was especially frightening given that it …
▶ Play from 1:28:17Item five and general public comment. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:29:22Hi, my name is Yolanda Davis Over Street.
▶ Play from 1:31:33I am speaking on the pretextual stops. Okay. Thank you. Good morning, council members. My name is Yolanda Davis Over Street. I'm the founder of Biking While Black, which is a mobility justice nonprofit effort here in Los Angeles and throughout the nation. I also served on the city of Los Angeles traffic violence task force. I'm here today to support stopping LAPD protest pretextual stops because black and brown communities should not have to live under the constant surveillance, fear, humiliation, and financial punishment for minor infractions that are all too often a gateway to profiling. As someone who has spent years in communities across Los Angeles walking, bicycling, organizing, and …
▶ Play from 1:31:39Marcus McKenna, executive director of Scope LA on item number five. And public comment as well. so SCOPE is a racial, economic, and environmental justice organization based in South LA that builds black and brown power. On April 29th, Scope actually partnered with community ally organizations to commemorate the 1992 civil uprising., and we all know the events leading up to the uprising were in large part related to harm caused by law enforcement on our communities. We also know from research that stops by law enforcement result in a disproportionate amount of force on black and brown drivers. I worked a decade plus in the state legislature, working for two assembly speakers and a budget …
▶ Play from 1:33:05good morning. Item five and general comment, please.
▶ Play from 1:34:41Hi, I'm Dr. Robert Marshall and I'm here for public comment, general comment, and item five. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:36:57good morning. Thank you. My name is Dr. Eric Aguiar with the Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade. I want to take a moment to speak not from politics, but from the live experience and realities of communities across Los Angeles. Today's conversation about pretextual stops is not simply about policing. It's about awareness. It's about accountability and understanding the impact these interactions have on people of color, especially in over police communities. For many residents, particularly black and brown, these encounters are not rare. They are routine. And over time, repeated experiences can shape how people view public safety, government, and their own place in society. More important than …
▶ Play from 1:39:16item five and public comment, please. Hi, I'm Leonora Analdua. I'm a resident of District 8 and I know I'm not I don't look like the kind of person that normally talks about their experience with pretextual stops., but my dad is Mexican and I grew up being pulled over as a child in the car with him and being terribly afraid that I might not make it back home with my dad., as an adult, I know the difference between when I drive and when I'm in the car with black and brown men in my family., I've experienced this in a particularly unique way that gives me a different perspective than probably a lot of people. It's a serious issue., and the data show that pretextual stops do not actually …
▶ Play from 1:41:39general comment on a civil rights case 256109. Good morning. My name is Kirk Connley. I'm here in good faith for the civil rights councils to help us. I am a prosay lining in the federal civil rights against the Los Angeles city in the in the city of Los Angeles. I am here answering the council in the city council meeting to direct the city attorney's office to stipulate a removal of a protective order seal currently sealing my my case. Transparency is a matter we all need to see transparency in things that are happening. The city should not unuse taxpayer money and to cover up the evidence of police misconduct hidden behind administrative seals. I'm asking you to oversight and ensure that …
▶ Play from 1:43:16Good morning. Just general public comment, please.
▶ Play from 1:44:24Hi, good morning. My name is Jessica Verjo and I'd like to speak on item five and provide general public comment. Hi. The last time I stood before you, I spoke about the broken windows policing and tough on crime era that unfairly targeted black and brown Latinos. I also spoke about the young black and brown community members that I work with. They are some of them are actually just barely adults. and they've experienced pretextual stops while on the job. I don't think I was really able to share with you the effect those stops have on our community members. For them, it's not just an interaction. It's not just something that happens routinely. For them, it's moments where they have to think …
▶ Play from 1:45:48Number five and I'm going to do it in Spanish.
▶ Play from 1:47:57Hey, I'd like to speak on item five as well as general public comment. Thank you., my name is Chanty Smith and I'm here on behalf of an organization called Catalyst California as well as the Push LA Coalition. I'm the former president of the city task force on non-law enforcement alternatives to traffic safety and I'm currently a member of the state advisory board on racial identity profiling., it's time to stop the stops in the city of Los Angeles. Data from Catalyst, California show that black people account for 8% of the city population, but comprise 31% of stops for minor traffic vi violations by the Los Angeles Police Department. This is a grave injustice and it's time to stop the …
▶ Play from 1:50:24Item five and general comment. So, the pretextual stops need to end. They're just an excuse to harass black and brown people for no reason whatsoever. and subject them to more violence. And we're seeing this constantly with the LAPD. And it's time that they actually this very important guardrail actually be put in. There's no reason why they should be stopping black and brown people for basically no evidence whatsoever. It's It's just another excuse to harass and them and such. I mean, that's what the LAPD does. They just And it's time that you actually put some kind of in and something in there to stop them from doing that. So, let's let's go on to general public comment. Good morning. What
▶ Play from 1:52:40Item five in public comment. I was first pulled over as a child on a bicycle when police threatened and harassed me on my way home from school. My father was pulled over and harassed multiple times while my sister and I sat in the car horrified that we might not survive. Within a few weeks of giving my getting my driver's license, I was pulled over and sexually harassed. I was 16. This is not theoretical. It is lived experiences. It is literal lives stolen like Kenan Anderson, Dejon Kazee, Daniel Hernandez, Dante Wright, and so many more. Lives stolen by police. This is an honor of them. It is time to stop the stops, but also consensual searches. There is no such thing as a consensual …
▶ Play from 1:54:51item five and general public comment. Awesome. Good morning everyone. My name is Laquan Hunt. I lead communications and brand strategy for the Social Justice Learning Institute. And most of my life, I've had the most positive perception of law enforcement, most specifically the LAPD., through the years I spent at the academy playing basketball or at basketball practice, participating in the vice unit's alcohol and beverage control program, keeping tobacco and alcohol out of the hands of youth., but most importantly,, because my role model, the man I look up to the most,, wears that uniform. Yeah, my father is an officer of the LAPD. He puts on that uniform every day to protect this city, …
▶ Play from 1:56:07's public comment, we may hear things that are offensive. We do apologize. We we continue to ask for your patience and the fastest way is to just hold on.
▶ Play from 1:58:26All the goddamn items and general comment. Speaker, you've exhausted your one minute on item five. You can continue with the other items if you'd like, or you can move to general public comment. Just get to the goddamn general, So now under that E, report back for necessary steps to implement a mailbased notification system that would allow traffic violations by mail to the registered owner. So, this is what they're really doing is they're using this thing to hide this thing. This is what Jim McDonald wanted. And that Heather Hut went right with it. So again, you vote for these you get this And that's why they want you to be warned about what I'm going to say first. See, they want to warn …
▶ Play from 1:59:05So, you'll get one minute for each of the traffic stops that the police are doing against Latinos. And I'm here to talk about the injustice in our community just for being Latinos. and to talk about the suffering and the racism and the injustice that our kids witness just for the fact of being a Latino. Say no to racism, yes to unity, and let's think about the future of all the families separated. We are all family. We all have kids and it is a sickness to see this and a stress to see for these kids to witness all of these injustices. I'm here to ask for the stop, because there is a loss of suff there's a lot of suffering and we need your support. Gracias. Thank you. [applause] Good …
▶ Play from 2:02:52item five and general public comment. Good morning, council members. My name is Lupita Martinez, regional policy advocate with Chera. Since 2019, the Push LA coalition has consistently advocated for an end to protection police stops for minor traffic violations that we have witnessed time and time again continue to disproportionately black and brown Angelinos and have life-changing impacts for immigrant Angelenos specifically. As I shared before, for immigrant communities, a minor traffic stop can lead to the deportation pipeline pushing unnecessary contact with immigration enforcement many times over issues that pose no threat to public safety. At a time when the federal administration …
▶ Play from 2:05:42From the council floor
Council member Rodriguez seconds. What's next? Commendatory resolutions for approval.
▶ Play from 41:34Council member McCusker seconds. Can we run through our agenda for this morning? Thank you, sir. Items one through four are items for which public hearings have been held. Items 5 through eight are items for which public hearings have not been held. 10 votes are required for consideration. All right. Without objection, those items are before us. Do we have any specials? Members, any specials? Council member Hut. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to call item five special for comments. All right. Item five for comments. M. Council member Hut. Any other specials on my left? All right, Mr. Price. Thank you, Mr. President. Out of an abundance of caution, I am accusing myself from …
▶ Play from 41:40I didn't hear that last comment, but on item five, um I have an amendment that will be circulated shortly on item five. Okay. Thank you. All right. Any other specials, amendments, other items? members. Going once, going twice. All right. Uh, Mr. City Attorney. Yes, Mr. President. To people providing public comment, when it's your turn to speak, please state which of the agenda items you'd like to speak to. We will have one minute per item up to 3 minutes total for the items open for public comment. When speaking on the agenda items, you must be on topic. Our goal is to get through as many speakers as we can. If you are not on topic or if we cannot tell whether you are on topic, you will get …
▶ Play from 43:20Pardon me, Mr. Chair. Is there a second to Council Member Hutzer? Thank you, Council Member Hernandez. Mr. President, I really hesitate to stand and speak after hearing such powerful testimony uh from you and from my colleagues on the council. When Mike Bonan said that he's speaking to people that look like him, I know I'm not as young and handsome, but I do. Uh, and I just want to say that this is a an issue that is deeply important to me because of the mentorship that I got from Jim Han and from the Han family. And we are a nation of laws and civil rights and equity and fairness has to apply to everybody or it applies to nobody. And so it is extraordinarily important that our policing be …
▶ Play from 2:35:23