The LAPD non emergency line is 1-877-275-5273 — easier remembered as 1-877-ASK-LAPD. It is staffed twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, by the same Communications Division that handles 911 calls for the City of Los Angeles. If something needs police attention but nobody is bleeding, nothing is on fire, and the suspect is not still standing in front of you, this is the number you want.
People mix the two lines up constantly. Some Angelenos dial 911 for a barking dog. Others stay quiet about a burglary because they think the report is not worth anyone's time. Both choices break the system. 911 should be reserved for actual emergencies — in-progress crime, active danger, fires, medical crises — and the non-emergency line exists precisely so the other ninety percent of police business has somewhere to go.
This guide pulls together the practical stuff: when to call 1-877-275-5273 instead of 911, what online reporting handles, which crimes still need a walk-in at a Community Police Station, the direct dial numbers for the busiest divisions, and the specialty units worth knowing about — hate crimes, sex crimes, domestic violence, Internal Affairs.
There is also a quick note on LASD if you are actually in unincorporated county territory and not in the city at all. If you are studying for the entrance exam, the LAPD practice test covers dispatch and call-routing scenarios you will see on the situational judgment sections.
1-877-275-5273. That is it. Toll-free from any phone in the United States. It rings into the Communications Division at the Police Administration Building downtown, where call-takers are working alongside the 911 desks. Same building, same training, different queue. You will sometimes hear it called the lapd non emergency phone, the non emergency lapd number, the lapd contact number, or just lapd non emergency. They all point to the same hotline.
Some background. Until the late 1990s, LAPD ran a patchwork of division desk lines, and most residents had no single number for non-emergencies. The 1-877 line was rolled out to consolidate that. The mnemonic ASK-LAPD spells out on a keypad — 2-7-5-5-2-7-3 — which makes it easier to remember in a stressful moment than a numeric string.
Use the non-emergency line whenever the incident is not actively in progress and nobody is in immediate danger. That covers a huge slice of ordinary police business. A few examples: you came home to a broken window and someone went through your sock drawer, but they are obviously long gone. The neighbor's party is rattling the wall at one in the morning.
There is a strange car that has been parked outside your house for three days with the engine occasionally running. Your bike is missing from your porch. A package was stolen — you have the doorbell-camera footage. Someone egged your front door. You need a copy of a police report you filed last year.
None of these need lights and sirens, but they all deserve a record. Calling 1-877-275-5273 puts the incident in the LAPD system, generates a case number where applicable, and either dispatches a unit when one comes free or routes you to a phone report. That case number matters later: insurance companies want it, retailers need it for refund claims on stolen packages, and detectives use it when patterns emerge across a neighborhood.
For some low-priority, no-suspect crimes, the LAPD Online Reporting portal is faster than waiting on the phone. Minor traffic collisions without injury, vandalism under $950, lost property, harassing phone calls — file them at LAPDonline.org and you get a temporary case number on the spot. Permanent number arrives after review. We will come back to the online portal in a moment, because it has rules.
911 — emergencies, in-progress crime, immediate danger, fire, medical crisis.
1-877-275-5273 — LAPD non-emergency (theft reports, noise, suspicious activity).
311 — LA City services: potholes, graffiti, abandoned cars, trash, streetlights.
211 — LA County social services: housing, food, mental health support.
The clean test takes three seconds. Ask yourself: Is anyone hurt, threatened, or about to be? Is the crime happening right now? Is the suspect still on scene or fleeing? Any single yes — dial 911. Three nos — dial 1-877-275-5273. That is the whole framework. The trouble is, people freeze when something happens, and 911 is the only number they remember, so the dispatchers handle a lot of calls that should never have come in on the emergency channel.
Use 911 when: a crime is in progress, a suspect is on scene or fleeing, someone is injured or being threatened, there is a fire, smoke, or a gas leak, someone is unresponsive or having a medical emergency, domestic violence is happening right now, a child or vulnerable adult is in immediate danger, you hear gunshots, or an alarm is going off with signs of forced entry.
Use 1-877-275-5273 when: the crime already happened and the suspect is gone, you are reporting a theft after the fact, you have a noise complaint or a chronic nuisance issue, you spotted a parking violation that is also a safety issue, you want a welfare check on someone you cannot reach, you saw suspicious activity that is not actively dangerous, you need a copy of a previously filed police report, or you have a general question about LAPD policy or procedure.
Los Angeles 911 dispatchers field roughly four million calls a year, and surveys across major US cities suggest twenty-five to forty percent of those calls would have been more appropriate on the non-emergency line. Each misrouted call ties up a dispatcher who could be working a true emergency. The flip side hurts too: if you stay quiet because you think your problem is not big enough, that burglary pattern in your neighborhood never gets logged, and the data that would have driven extra patrols never makes it into the system.
Crimes happening right now. Suspect on scene or running. Injuries, threats, weapons displayed. Fire, smoke, gas. Medical emergency. Domestic violence in progress. Active break-in. Gunshots. Anything where seconds matter and a unit needs to roll with lights and sirens.
The incident is over. Suspect is gone. You need a report filed, a case number, or a question answered. Stolen property after the fact, noise complaints, suspicious activity not actively dangerous, parking issues, welfare check requests, follow-ups on existing reports.
Minor traffic collision with no injuries. Vandalism under $950. Lost property. Harassing phone calls. Identity theft documentation. You get a temporary case number immediately and a permanent number after review. Not for anything in progress, anything with a known suspect, or anything needing evidence collection.
Not police business at all. Potholes, graffiti removal, abandoned cars on public streets, broken streetlights, sidewalk damage, tree issues, trash and recycling, shopping cart abandonment, illegal dumping reports. Different department, different priorities, also free.
A call-taker answers — likely within a minute or two on a quiet weekday afternoon, sometimes several minutes on a Friday or Saturday night. They will ask your location first (so they know which division covers it), then the nature of the incident, then your callback number. They enter the details into the Computer-Aided Dispatch system, classify the call by priority, and either send a unit, transfer you to a desk officer, or take a phone report on the spot.
Not every non-emergency results in a black-and-white showing up in your driveway. Low-value property crimes are often handled entirely on the phone. The call-taker collects what they need, generates a report, and emails or mails you the case number. For incidents where a unit does need to respond, the dispatcher queues your call by priority — and that priority determines how long you wait.
LAPD runs a numeric priority system, roughly 1 through 4 (some departments stretch it further). Priority 1 is in-progress emergency — officer down, active shooter, armed robbery happening this second — and gets immediate multi-unit dispatch. Priority 2 is urgent but not life-or-death: alarm with signs of forced entry, traffic accident with injuries, fights in progress without weapons. Priority 3 is the bulk of non-emergency calls: cold property crimes, noise complaints, suspicious vehicle reports. Priority 4 covers the lowest — old reports, lost property, follow-ups — and often gets handled by phone or scheduled for the next slow patch.
Response time for a Priority 3 call can be one hour, three hours, or, on a busy weekend, longer. The dispatcher rarely tells you the priority number directly. They do sometimes give you an honest estimate of wait time, especially if the call queue is deep. That is not a reflection of how seriously they take your report — it is triage. The most dangerous situations go first.
Dispatchers ask the same questions on almost every call. Having the answers prepped trims your call time and speeds up dispatch. The basics: your name, your callback number, the precise location of the incident (address, cross streets, or landmarks), what happened in plain language, when it happened, whether anyone was injured, descriptions of any suspects or vehicles you saw, and any item details — serial numbers, photos, doorbell-camera footage. The checklist a few sections down lays this out in full.
For the right kind of incident, the online reporting portal beats the phone every time. No hold music, no scheduling, no waiting for a unit. You enter the details, upload supporting documents or photos, and the system issues a temporary case number on the spot. A records clerk reviews the submission, and the permanent case number is emailed within a few business days.
The portal accepts: minor traffic collisions with no injuries and no suspects, vandalism under $950 with no suspect information, lost property (not stolen — lost, where you simply cannot find it), harassing phone calls and annoying-caller reports, and certain types of identity theft documentation. The dollar threshold for vandalism is important: anything that crosses $950 in damages is no longer eligible for the online form, because under California law it changes the criminal classification.
It will not handle: anything in progress, anything with a known suspect, stolen vehicles, hit-and-run accidents, any incident with injuries, hate crimes, sex crimes, domestic violence, or anything where physical evidence needs to be collected. For those, you need an officer in person.
LAPD operates twenty-one Community Police Stations across the city, each with a public lobby and a desk officer during business hours. Typical walk-in hours run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., though it varies by station and a few maintain twenty-four-hour public access. Walking in is often the fastest option for things like getting a stamped copy of an old report, requesting a clearance letter, filing an in-person report for an incident with evidence to hand over, or asking detailed follow-up questions on an open case.
If you are unsure which station covers your address, the LAPD website has a Find Your Station tool — type in the address and it returns the station name, address, phone, and the Senior Lead Officer assigned to your block. The full list of LAPD divisions and stations walks through every one with maps and contact details.
Central, Hollenbeck, Newton, Northeast, Rampart, and 77th Street divisions. Downtown LA, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, MacArthur Park, and South Central neighborhoods. Heaviest combined call volume in the city.
Harbor, Southeast, Southwest divisions (alongside 77th in Central). Covers Watts, San Pedro, Wilmington, and the harbor industrial corridor. Mix of residential and port-area policing.
Devonshire, Foothill, Mission, North Hollywood, Topanga, Van Nuys, and West Valley divisions. The entire San Fernando Valley — the geographically largest bureau by area.
Hollywood, Olympic, Pacific, West LA, and Wilshire divisions. Westside, Hollywood, Venice, Mid-Wilshire, and the entertainment districts. Heavy nightlife and event-related call volume.
Bike stolen from your porch, package taken from your stoop, mail rifled through and items missing. Call 1-877-275-5273 with any video footage you have. A case number gets generated for insurance and retailer refund claims.
Late-night parties, construction outside permitted hours, chronic disturbances. Call the non-emergency line. A unit is dispatched when one frees up; weekend nights take longer. Repeat issues should also be flagged to your Senior Lead Officer.
Vehicles parked for days with people sitting in them, individuals trying door handles down the block, people who appear to be casing houses. Describe what you saw — not what you assume. Direction of travel and clothing details help the responding unit.
Elderly relative not answering the phone, neighbor whose mail has been piling up. Call the non-emergency line and provide the address. If you have specific reason to believe immediate danger, that becomes a 911 call instead.
The 1-877-275-5273 hotline is the right entry point if you do not know which station covers your area or you are unsure who handles your issue. But every community police station also publishes a direct desk-officer line, and calling that line skips the central routing and gets you straight to someone who knows the neighborhood. A few of the most-called direct numbers:
These are the central-cluster divisions with the heaviest combined population and the highest community-call volume. Every other station — Van Nuys, Pacific, Devonshire, West LA, and the rest — has its own published number on the LAPD website. If you call the direct line during business hours, you usually get a live desk officer within a minute. After hours, the line typically rolls into the central non-emergency queue anyway.
When direct dialing helps most: you want to follow up on a previously filed report, you need to speak with a specific officer or detective, you are reporting a chronic neighborhood problem (in which case the Senior Lead Officer is the right person), or you want to ask about a community meeting or local outreach event. For most one-off reports, 1-877-275-5273 works fine — but the direct lines are there when they make sense.
For certain crimes, the LAPD non-emergency line will eventually route you to a specialty detective unit — but you can save a step by dialing the unit directly when the situation calls for it.
Hate Crime Unit. LAPD investigates bias-motivated crimes through a dedicated hate-crime coordinator and trained detectives. If you are reporting an incident that appears motivated by race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, mention that explicitly when you call. The hate-crime designation changes how the case is investigated and prosecuted.
Sex Crimes Unit — (213) 486-7530. Sex crimes are not handled by phone report. The unit takes the case from the first call, dispatches officers to the victim's location, and coordinates with a sexual assault response team. Hospital examinations, evidence collection, and victim advocacy are all part of the process. The hotline is staffed by detectives, not a general call-taker.
Domestic Violence Unit — (213) 485-2533. For follow-up on a DV case, restraining-order violations, or non-emergency questions related to an open domestic-violence investigation. If a DV incident is happening right now, dial 911 — not this line. Domestic violence in progress is always an emergency.
Internal Affairs — 1-800-339-6868. For complaints about LAPD officer conduct. Internal Affairs investigates allegations of excessive force, discourtesy, biased policing, dishonesty, and misconduct. You can also file in person at any community police station or the IA office downtown. Complaints can be made anonymously, though providing contact information helps investigators reach you with follow-up questions.
LAPD Records and Identification. For requests for police-report copies, traffic-collision reports, and clearance letters. Most stations process record requests at the desk during business hours, or you can submit a request through the LAPD website. A small fee usually applies, and processing takes from a few days to a few weeks depending on the report type.
Wait times on 1-877-275-5273 vary by day and hour. Tuesday morning at ten is fast — typically under two minutes. Friday night at eleven, or Saturday early in the morning when bar-close calls roll in, can be much slower. The honest advice: if you are not reporting something time-sensitive and you can wait until the next morning, you will get through faster and probably have a more attentive call-taker.
And then there is the jurisdiction question. LAPD covers the City of Los Angeles. It does not cover unincorporated LA County, contract cities like West Hollywood, Compton, or Lynwood, or the dozens of small independent municipalities inside the county.
Those areas belong to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), and LASD has its own non-emergency line: 1-866-LASD-911 (1-866-527-3911). If your incident happened in West Hollywood or somewhere in unincorporated county territory, the LAPD non-emergency line will redirect you, but you save time by dialing LASD directly. The boundary lines are not intuitive — Hollywood is LAPD, West Hollywood (which sits right next to it) is LASD. East LA neighborhoods around Boyle Heights are LAPD city territory, but the unincorporated parts of East LA are LASD.
For freeway incidents, neither LAPD nor LASD is the right call — that is California Highway Patrol. CHP runs 1-800-TELL-CHP (1-800-835-5247). For postal mail theft, US Postal Inspection Service investigates federal mail-theft cases at 1-877-876-2455 — you can file with both LAPD and USPIS in parallel and that often produces better results than either alone.
Worth restating: 311 is the LA City information line, not the police. It handles potholes, graffiti removal, abandoned vehicles on city streets, broken streetlights, sidewalk damage, trash and recycling issues, and most non-police municipal services. If you call 1-877-275-5273 for a pothole, the call-taker is going to politely route you to 311. Save the step.
The fuzzier case is abandoned vehicles. A car parked on the street for a few days is usually 311. A car that has been sitting in front of your house for weeks with broken windows, a stripped engine, or signs of someone living in it might involve LAPD, but the parking-and-abandonment side is still 311's domain. If you are not sure, call 311 first and they will tell you whether it needs to be escalated.
If you are preparing to apply to LAPD, the call-routing structure is more than trivia. The situational-judgment portion of the entrance exam and the panel-interview phase both lean on candidates' understanding of when to escalate, when to handle a situation in place, and when to bring in another agency. A candidate who can talk through the difference between a Priority 2 alarm response and a Priority 3 cold burglary report — and explain why each gets the resources it does — comes across as someone who has actually thought about the job.
Recruits learn the Communications Division flow during the academy. Call comes in, call-taker classifies, dispatcher routes to the geographic division, and a unit acknowledges and rolls. Each handoff has timing standards, and the CAD system tracks them. New officers spend ride-along shifts watching how dispatch decisions translate into real-world response — the moment a Priority 3 gets bumped because a Priority 1 came in, the moment a phone report gets converted to an in-person response because new information surfaces, the moment a unit goes Code 6 (out of service handling a call) and rebalances who is available across the division.
The LAPD officer requirements page walks through what the academy and the application phase look like in detail. The divisions and stations breakdown is the right starting point for understanding which areas you might be assigned to. And if you want to drill the situational-judgment style of question, the practice test covers exactly the kinds of call-routing decisions that come up.
The single most useful thing to do right now: save 1-877-275-5273 in your phone under LAPD Non-Emergency. Add your local community police station's direct desk line if you know it. Drop 311 in there for city services and 211 for social services. The day you need any of these, you will not be googling — you will be dialing. That tiny bit of preparation makes the difference between getting a report filed in three minutes and spending half an hour figuring out who to talk to.
And if you are still on the fence about whether your situation is a 911 call or a non-emergency: if any single person could get hurt in the next few minutes, it is 911. If that is genuinely not the case, the non-emergency line is the right number, even if you feel guilty about taking up dispatcher time. They would rather you call than not.