The mission of the Investigation and Enforcement Division is to be a world leader in municipal safety enforcement and environmental protection.

The men and women of the Investigation and Enforcement Division are completely committed to accomplishing this vital goal for our City. As the City’s primary illegal dumping enforcement agency, we are striving to make Los Angeles the “cleanest and greenest” large City in the world.

Over the last few years the Division has made great strides in improving the environmental law enforcement training and authority for Street Services Investigators. The proactive measures taken include:

In addition to environmental enforcement, the Division has responsibility for the enforcement of laws related to the use or misuse of the public right-of-way. Enforcement and regulatory activities in the Division fall within three general categories: “construction”, “public health and safety”, and “community/event-based operations.”

Street Services Investigators work under a Memorandum of Agreement with the Los Angeles Police Department as an authorized outside law enforcement agency allowed to use the jail and evidence facilities of the Police Department. Working cooperatively, the Bureau of Street Services and the LAPD have had a significant impact on illegal dumping, non-compliant vending, illegal sign posting, and other public right-of-way related “broken windows” type violations of laws or ordinances.

Within the area of construction related operations: the Division utilizes a permit based system to regulate the use of cranes, the placement and storage of building materials and equipment, the construction of protective fences, walk through canopies, the importing/exporting of earth materials, fire apparatus tests (excess water on streets), imperilment of lateral support of streets and sidewalks, the movement of houses and other extra-legal loads, and Major Transit and Transportation Construction Impact Areas Ordinance enforcement.

Public health and safety related operations include: visibility obstructions at intersections; illegal sign removal; obstructions in public rights-of-way; entrance canopies, broken sidewalks, curbs and driveway approaches; illegal dumping of combustible or non-combustible rubbish on public property or private premises; sidewalk cleaning contract oversight; and coordinating encampment clean-up activities.

Community/event-based operations include: temporary street closures for community based organizations or neighborhood watch groups, sidewalk selling activities, street banners announcing special events, bus bench and transit shelter inspection, and permits for seasonal decorations.

One Investigator is assigned to each of the 24 districts. Each district is comprised of approximately 250 centerline miles. The Division's mission is to improve the quality of life for the public by increasing safety and cleanliness levels throughout the City and by making the public right-of-way more aesthetically pleasing.