LAPD briefed committee on statewide protective-order database and rise in U-Visa certifications; committee directs policy changes

Los Angeles Police Department officials briefed the City Council—s Committee on Equity, Immigration and Disabilities on Aug. 1 about the feasibility of using a statewide protective-order repository and about operations for certifying U-Visas, and the committee approved steps to improve victims— access to police records for immigration relief.

Commander Chay Mastic and Detective Marisa Aguinaga presented two staff reports. On the protective-order database, LAPD staff described an existing state judicial repository that would let agencies view restraining orders issued across counties and contrasted it with the Los Angeles County Justice Partner portal, which they said is limited to the county. LAPD staff said transferring records or joining the state system would require time and resources; they offered to draft a formal request to the Superior Court for the committee to consider.

On the U-Visa program, Detective Marisa Aguinaga — who serves as the department—s U-Visa coordinator — told the committee the department has received nearly 18,000 U-Visa certification requests since 2017 with about "81 por 100 certificadas, 19 por 100 rechazado," and that applications and federal processing delays have created a backlog. She said the department is educating patrol officers and creating outreach materials to help victims and community organizations navigate the process.

Aguinaga also raised an operational impediment: delayed access to police reports. Under state law, victims of certain qualifying crimes can receive a copy of their police report free of charge within a prescribed period; Aguinaga told the committee that lengthy waits for report copies have hindered U-Visa filings and sometimes require re-certification. She asked commanders to direct stations to provide immediate copies of qualifying reports and highlighted the department—s plan for annual coordinator training, bilingual flyers and a FAQs bulletin for officers and the public.

Councilmember (Concejal) Rodríguez proposed, and the committee approved, a modification to expand the department—s policy so that incidents qualifying for U-Visa consideration would be eligible for expedited access to police reports. The committee also asked staff to draft a resolution urging the Superior Court to adopt or facilitate statewide participation in the court—s protective-order repository so restraining orders are visible across counties.

The committee voted to "note and file" the report on the state protective-order system and to follow up with a draft resolution; the transcript records the item as "anotar y archivar" with committee members recorded as voting in favor. LAPD staff agreed to return with a draft letter or resolution for the committee—s review and to work with court administrators to assess technical and staffing requirements.

The briefing and subsequent instructions reflect growing demand on the U-Visa system and the department—s recognition that quicker access to police records and better interjurisdictional information-sharing could aid both victims and investigations. Committee members highlighted the public-safety rationale for making victims more comfortable reporting crimes and for improving cross-county visibility of protective orders.

Detective Aguinaga closed her remarks by describing operational changes already underway: increasing training for coordinators, ensuring two coordinators per division, producing outreach materials in multiple languages and encouraging commanders to provide free copies of qualifying reports at station intake rather than routing requests through records offices with associated fees and long waits.