A Los Angeles County judge has ordered the city of El Segundo to turn over 12 racial profiling complaints filed against its police officers, in a lawsuit brought by a Black resident who says he was stopped because of his race. The records are due to his lawyers by Nov. 5.
Judge Amy N. Carter of Torrance Superior Court ruled Thursday that the plaintiff, Keith Puckett, is entitled to complaints made both before and after the two encounters he describes in 2021. His suit rests on a disparity: Black people make up less than 5% of El Segundo’s population, but more than 20% of all stops by the El Segundo Police Department, according to the complaint, which cites data the city itself collects under California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act.
That is a gap of at least four to one in a small beach city south of Los Angeles International Airport. Puckett’s lawyers argue the complaints show whether his experience was an isolated one or part of a pattern.
What Puckett says happened
Puckett alleges two detentions in 2021. In January, he says, six armed officers confronted him at his home at night after seeing a Black guest outside. Two months later, he says, an officer made a U-turn to pull him over, claiming the light over his rear license plate was out. Puckett says the light worked and that no violation was found.
He says he reported both incidents to police leadership and pressed for policy changes, and that the harassment continued.
The city denies the allegations. In its response, it says officers “acted objectively reasonable under the circumstances and that probable cause existed.”
Where the case stands
Puckett sued in June 2024, represented by the law firm Gibson Dunn. The suit seeks damages and a court order requiring El Segundo to stop the conduct, revise its policies and retrain officers. Gibson Dunn partner Lauren Blas said when the suit was filed: “Racism by law enforcement is unlawful, unconstitutional and harmful to everyone who experiences it.”
The city tried to have the case thrown out and lost. In April 2025, Judge Gary Y. Tanaka denied its demurrer, the legal step to end a suit before discovery, and let the claims proceed.
The stop figures are the plaintiff’s reading of the city’s own reports. California requires departments to log the race of people stopped, and that is what makes a comparison like this possible. Whether the complaints Carter ordered released show a pattern is the next question. The city must produce them by Nov. 5.
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