- LAPD uses plainclothes officers in jaywalking sting operations.
- Drivers are stopped for not yielding to unmarked crosswalks.
- Pedestrian deaths in the Valley surpassed homicides in 2025.
A random person walking in the middle of a busy street is often seen as a nuisance. They present what appears to be a completely unnecessary safety risk. Nevertheless, that’s exactly the position that LAPD allegedly put multiple people in so that the department could pull over drivers who didn’t stop for pedestrians.
Officers say the “targeted operation’ was meant to enhance safety. Citizens say it’s entrapment.
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Footage taken by a local during one operation shows officers, some in plain clothes, crossing streets outside marked crosswalks as part of a “pedestrian enforcement detail.” Drivers who failed to yield were pulled over by motorcycle units, drawing criticism from locals and online commenters.
Safety Campaign or Tactical Setup?
Again, many called the practice “entrapment,” questioning whether police should be orchestrating scenarios to catch traffic violations.
“They’re hiding in parking lots and hiring people to walk across the street,” a witness in Woodland Hills said, as the video circulated on social media. “Whoever passes them, they get pulled over. Look at the cops. Y’all are f—– up. That is crazy!”
The LAPD defended the operation to ABC 7, saying it took place in “high injury” areas known for severe collisions, and that the aim is to educate drivers and improve pedestrian safety.
Here’s the kicker. California law treats unmarked crosswalks the same as marked ones, meaning drivers are legally required to yield either way. In other words, if a drunk person wanders into the road, traffic should stop completely until that person figures out where they want to go. Several local citizens took up the attitude that the LAPD probably has better things to do.
That said, the police say that pedestrian fatalities are higher than homicides in the area. They didn’t define whether those deaths were the result of folks failing to stop for people crossing the road or if those pedestrians were doing something else. A few months ago, an LAPD police car hit and killed a pedestrian. It’s unclear if that death was also included in the statistics.