This brief explores how Los Angeles County, with support from the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC)—an initiative funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to reduce overincarceration and disparities in jail populations—deployed and expanded strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the local jail population.

Why This Matters

Thousands of people are held in jail on any given day, with more than two-thirds of them awaiting trial. Many millions more cycle through jails every year. Even a short jail stay can have devastating consequences for individuals, including loss of employment, family instability, and financial difficulties. National efforts like the Safety and Justice Challenge have sought to reduce overincarceration in jails while maintaining public safety, recognizing the importance of jails in the larger picture of mass incarceration in the United States. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, jurisdictions across the country launched emergency response strategies to reduce their jail populations, resulting in historic drops. Though many of these strategies have since been suspended, many places, like Los Angeles County, have adopted them as standard practice. Jurisdictions interested in reducing their jail populations can consider implementing strategies similar to Los Angeles to realize jail population reduction goals in their local contexts.

What We Found

Los Angeles County developed new strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the local jail population and expanded existing ones, including

• a jail population review council,
• a county-wide zero bail policy,
• a pretrial release evaluation program pilot,
• a rapid diversion program,
• a workgroup to plan closing the Men’s Central Jail, and
• Measure J.

How We Did It

To develop this case study, we drew on three primary sources: semistructured interviews with 13 Los Angeles County stakeholders (conducted between April 2023 and February 2024), analysis of SJC progress reports and public documents, and jail population trends analyzed by the Institute for State and Local Governance. Interviewees represented a range of justice agencies and community partners, sharing insights on COVID-19 reforms, challenges, and successes. We analyzed the interviews using NVivo qualitative software, applying a codebook developed to identify trends and themes related to local reform efforts and jail population reduction strategies.