LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Did the president of the Los Angeles City Council try to get out of a traffic citation by phoning a friend? The Los Angeles Police Union is asking both the city attorney and the district attorney to investigate to find out.
However, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson already tells 7 On Your Side Investigates the allegation that he did that is absolutely baseless.
What is now a war of words between Harris-Dawson and the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) all stems from a council meeting where councilmembers discussed “pretext stops.”
That’s when police pull over someone for a minor traffic violation, but the intent is to investigate a more serious crime.
Harris-Dawson posted a portion of his comments during the discussion on his Instagram two weeks ago.
“I’ve been stopped four times. Four times. As recently as Wednesday,” he said in the video of him talking in council chambers.
The “Wednesday” he is referring to was Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
That morning, Harris-Dawson says he was driving on the 110 Freeway to head to city hall
“An unmarked car tailed me for some time on the 110 Freeway,” Harris-Dawson said.
He said he got off the 110 at Adams Boulevard and that an Los Angeles School Police officer pulled him over.
“It was very aggressive,” said Harris-Dawson.
The council president says he was cited for crossing a double yellow line.
“I called a number of people so that there would be a witness because I was very concerned about what happened,” he told 7 On Your Side Investigates.
That’s where the LAPPL comes in.
On Wednesday, the organization sent letters to the L.A. County District Attorney and the L.A. City Attorney, urging them to investigate.
The union’s letter reads in part:
“News reports indicate that during the Wednesday March 4, 2026 traffic stop Mr. Harris-Dawson contacted a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education “… in an apparent effort to get out of the citation.”
The reporting they’re referencing comes from the New York Post.
“If those allegations are true, they should be investigated,” said Jamie McBride with LAPPL. “You’re trying to use your position to get out of the ticket, and that’s actually a crime.”
7 On Your Side Investigates asked Harris-Dawson if he asked for help getting out of the citation.
“No, I actually was eager for him to write me a citation,” Harris-Dawson answered, referring to LA Schools Police officer who pulled him over and cited him. “Because I want to see him in court.”
ABC7 also asked the council president if he violated any traffic law prior to being pulled over.
“That’s something we’ll take up in court. You guys will be welcome to cover the hearing when that happens,” replied Harris-Dawson.
The Los Angeles Unified School District said very little other than this statement it released to Eyewitness News:
“The mission of the Los Angeles School Police Department is to support the teachers, administrators and other staff of Los Angeles Unified School District in providing safe school environments for students. On Wednesday, March 4th, 2026, during our morning school drop off, a Los Angeles School Police Department officer conducted a traffic stop based on an observed moving traffic violation in the vicinity of one of our high schools and issued the driver a citation.”
The LAPPL also says what irks them is that it could be assumed – based on what the council president posted on Instagram – that LAPD pulled him over.
Harris-Dawson says any investigation by the district attorney or the city attorney would be a “waste of time.”
7 On Your Side Investigates did ask him who all he called during that stop, and he would not disclose that information.
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