Arrests at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Most people would be surprised at how many calls bail bonds companies receive about people who have been arrested while going through airport security. Things like brass knuckles or a pocket knife can be viewed as a weapon.

Since the airport does not have an on-site jail, defendants who are arrested at LAX are taken to the LAPD Pacific Jail to start the booking process.

Inmates who need medical care will not be held at the LAPD jails

The Los Angeles Police Department Jails are not designed to hold people for an extended period of time and they’re not equipped to provide medical care to arrestees who need medication or medical attention.

In this case, these defendants will be taken directly to a county-operated facility that falls under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Women will be transported to the Lynwood Jail and men will be taken directly to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown LA.

For the most part, the booking process for someone who needs medical attention could take an additional 8 to 12 hours because they will need to be “cleared” by a doctor before the jailer starts to process their intake paperwork.

The booking process involves more than mug shots and fingerprints

When someone has been arrested by a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, it’s natural to want to get them out of jail as fast as possible.

Unfortunately, many bail bond clients find this is more of a “hurry up and wait” situation.

This can be extremely frustrating for the defendant’s friends and family members, but the jails have a process they need to follow.

When a person is taken into custody they’ll need to be driven to that station’s jail to be processed into the system.

If the facility is busy, there might be several people in line ahead of them.

It’s not uncommon for there to be an hour or two gap between the time someone is placed into the back of the squad car and the time the jailer starts to process their intake paperwork.

The next thing that will need to happen involves the defendant being checked for warrants. This is done by submitting an electronic copy of their fingerprints to the Department of Justice.

The DOJ performs warrant checks for every jail in the United States and as you can imagine, it takes several hours to process those results.

Once this information is returned to the jail, the booking process will be considered complete.

The average booking time in LA can take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours, depending on how busy the jail is. If the facility is very busy or understaffed, it may take a bit longer.

Defendants who don’t post bail bonds at the LAPD jails run the risk of being transferred to County jails

For the most part, arrestees who are being held at an LAPD detention facility will only be housed there until their first court date, which generally takes place within three business days of their arrest.

You’ll want to keep in mind that weekends and holidays don’t count as business days, so there are times when someone might be arrested on a Friday but they won’t see a judge until the following Thursday.

If they are not released from court, men will be bussed to the Twin Towers Jail and women will be bussed to the Lynwood Correctional Facility.

After court, it is common that the County jailer will not be ready to take a bond for 12-24 hours.

Bail bonds release times vary

The average release time at the LAPD jails can take between 4 and 6 hours from the time a defendant’s bond is posted. Much like booking someone into the system, there are protocols that need to be followed.

As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the jail, the faster the release times. But that’s not always the case.

The main job of the jails is to book newly arrested defendants and to keep the public safe, and there are a long list of priorities that come before processing release paperwork.

This includes everything from processing new arrestees, counting inmates, working through staff shift changes and screening friends and family members who have come to the jail to visit a loved one.

Some of the larger facilities require several people sign off on someone’s release paperwork before it’s fully processed. If any of those officers are busy helping out with jail operations, they might not have a chance to review the documents for a few hours.

If the jail is relatively small, release paperwork could be processed within two hours. On the other hand, if they’re busy and short staffed, it could take a bit longer.