Brief

The Board of Police Commissioners introduced a fiscal matter regarding the 2025 Tobacco Grant Program, administered by the California Department of Justice, covering fiscal years 2025-2029. The file addresses the city's receipt and allocation of state tobacco tax grant funds. Currently pending review in the Budget and Finance Committee and Public Safety Committee, with no substantive action yet taken since initial referral on July 8, 2026.

Full summary

The LAPD is seeking retroactive Council authorization to accept a $2,235,844 grant from the California Department of Justice under the 2025 Tobacco Grant Program, funded by Proposition 56 tobacco tax revenue. The grant runs from November 21, 2025, through June 30, 2029, and requires no city matching funds. Chief of Police Jim McDonnell signed the grant documents in December 2025, and the Board of Police Commissioners approved the package on December 16, 2025, before forwarding it to the Mayor and Council for formal authorization. The grant funds LAPD's Tobacco Illegal Sales Enforcement (TISE) program, run out of the Commercial Crimes Division. Officers will conduct three types of enforcement operations each year: minor decoy operations, in which trained minors from the LAPD Cadet Program attempt to purchase tobacco at retail locations; shoulder tap operations, in which a minor asks an adult outside a store to buy tobacco on their behalf; and undercover buy operations targeting flavored tobacco, hookah products, and illegal online sales. The program plans 26 minor decoy operations, 26 shoulder tap operations, and 12 undercover buy operations annually, collectively targeting roughly 640 retailer contacts per year. Enforcement focuses on stores near schools, repeat offenders, and online sellers. The grant expressly prohibits community or school patrols and limits enforcement to retailer-targeted activities. Nearly all of the $2,235,844 award covers officer overtime and related benefits across three fiscal years, with a small allocation of $3,600 for laptops to support field data collection. The requested Council actions include authorizing the Chief of Police to formally accept the grant and execute the agreement, directing the City Controller to establish a receivable in the Police Department Grant Fund (Fund No. 339), and appropriating funds for overtime and related costs in annual increments through FY 2027-28. The Board of Police Commissioners transmitted the package to the Council on July 1, 2026. It was referred the following day to both the Budget and Finance Committee and the Public Safety Committee, where it remains pending with no committee hearings yet recorded. The file expires July 7, 2028, if not acted upon.

Activity (2)

• 2026-07-08 Board of Police Commissioners document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Public Safety Committee.
• 2026-07-07 Document submitted by Board of Police Commissioners, dated July 1, 2026.

Documents (1)

• 2026-07-01 Report from Board of Police Commissioners · report