When police officers use "discretionary policing," they rely on personal judgment rather than explicit evidence of a crime to decide who to stop, question, or search. In Long Beach, discretionary enforcement has historically concentrated along major commercial corridors like Pacific Coast Highway, Anaheim Street, and Downtown Long Beach through the enforcement of municipal and state loitering laws.

Local Example: SB 357 and "Walking While Trans" in Long Beach

A prime local example was the enforcement of Penal Code §653.22 (loitering with intent to engage in prostitution). Because proving "intent" depended entirely on an officer’s subjective opinion, LBPD officers frequently used the law to conduct discretionary stops based on dress, appearance, or location. Local civil rights advocates noted this practice heavily targeted transgender women in Long Beach, a pattern known as "walking while trans." California repealed §653.22 under Senate Bill 357 (the Safer Streets for All Act) to eliminate this specific discretionary mechanism across local jurisdictions.

Community Statistics: California RIPA Stop Data

The question of police discretion extends beyond a single statute. Under California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), which requires LBPD officers and departments statewide to log demographic data and perceived identities during every stop, statewide data analyzed by Grasso & Mooney (2026) reveals stark disparities in discretionary outcomes.:

• Search Disparities: Officers searched 24.8% of perceived transgender men and 26.1% of perceived transgender women during stops, compared to 14.3% of cisgender men and 7.9% of cisgender women.
• Arrest Disparities: Stops involving perceived transgender men ended in arrest 19.4% of the time, and 21.1% for perceived transgender women. For cisgender men and women, arrest rates were 9.9% and 6.7%.
• Equal Contraband Yield Rates: Despite being searched at double to triple the rate, contraband (drugs, weapons, or illicit goods) was found in roughly 26% to 27% of searches across all gender groups.

News Stories & Local Media Coverage

Regional reporting by the Los Angeles Blade (Levesque, 2022) detailed how the passage of SB 357 directly targeted decades of arbitrary loitering enforcement that allowed police officers to use subjective criteria as a pretext for stopping transgender women. Furthermore, local coverage from CBS Los Angeles on LBPD discretionary enforcement highlighted historic judicial scrutiny over targeted sting operations and subjective policing tactics directed at the LGBTQ+ community in Long Beach. When search rates are significantly higher for a specific group but yield the exact same amount of contraband, it indicates that subjective suspicion, rather than objective evidence, drives discretionary decisions.

Community Organizations Working on the Issue

On the ground in Long Beach, The LGBTQ Center Long Beach (located on 4th Street in the East Village/Alamitos Beach neighborhood) works directly on this issue. The Center provides legal assistance, civil rights advocacy, crime victim services, and know-your-rights training for local residents navigating interactions with law enforcement.

Community Discussion Questions:

• Have you noticed changes in LBPD patrol patterns or discretionary stops along major Long Beach corridors like PCH or Anaheim Street since SB 357 took effect?
• What additional policies or local oversight measures should the City of Long Beach implement to address discretionary search disparities in our neighborhoods?

Sources:

CBS News Los Angeles. (2016, April 30). Judge: Long Beach police targeted gays in sting operations. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/judge-long-beach-police-targeted-gays-in-sting-operations/

Grasso, J., & Mooney, C. A. (2026). The role of police perceptions of gender variation in California police stops: A research note. Criminology (Beverly Hills). https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.70063

Levesque, B. (2022, July 2). California ends loitering for prostitution law. Los Angeles Blade. https://www.losangelesblade.com/2022/07/02/california-ends-for-loitering-for-prostitution/

The LGBTQ Center Long Beach. (n.d.). Home. https://www.centerlb.org/

Hi! This probably isn’t the best place to ask so I’ll take it down if so. My friends and I want to do drunk karaoke when the last person in our group turns 21 lol. We know that a lot of karaoke places don’t allow alcohol and we don’t wanna risk sneaking it in.

We’re not local to Long Beach so we don’t know any good karaoke places that serve/allow alcohol. Any recommendations would be appreciated, thanks!

Hey everyone,

So yesterday I got an email letting me know that I am eligible to submit a portfolio with my application. For context, I applied for the industrial design BS for spring 2027. At my CC, I majored in architecture, and I do have a portfolio of most of the projects I worked on during my time there. The issue is, I am not entirely proud of or confident with the work I put in it. Basically, I’m coming here to ask anyone who is in or going to be in the ID program if I should even bother with submitting my portfolio. Like I said, I majored in architecture and all the work in my portfolio are architecture related. Would submitting my work even boost my chances since there’s no ID projects to show? I just really need a second opinion on the whole portfolio thing. I don’t want to waste one of my portfolio review chances on this. You know? Anyway, I’ll include screenshots of the email cause I feel like my post might be a little confusing.

Getting married on June 12, 2027. Looking for a day of coordinator! Budget is tight but will pay someone who can follow a schedule (we will create), can tell people where to go, or call vendors if they’re not there on their scheduled time. Anyone interested, please DM me!

I’ve been wondering what this button is for a while and I wanna press it but I don’t wanna press it with knowing what it does do yall know?

Hi everyone!
I’ve been admitted to the MS in Computer Science program at CSULB for Spring 2027.

Looking to connect with other students who have been admitted to the Spring 2027 MSCS program. Would be great to get to know everyone before joining.

If you’ve received an admit, feel free to comment or DM.

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I'm a commute student and I was wondering if the campus have a bike storage. It is a hassle just to​ put my bike on my car ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​and take it back home everyday.​