The Brief

The wail of emergency sirens. The roar of garbage trucks. The hum of gridlocked freeway traffic.

Living in a noisy neighborhood can be annoying. It can also be harmful to your health.

Chronic street noise — from sirens, traffic and construction — is more than just a nuisance, it’s a growing health hazard, health experts say. In recent years, research has shown that consistent exposure to noise may be linked to a host of conditions, including cardiovascular disease and stroke.

A study released in May in the journal Environmental Health found that long-term exposure to traffic noise has been linked to increased mortality rates in people with diabetes.

Los Angeles County — with its vast network of freeways and its notorious traffic — is one of the loudest in the U.S., according to the Department of Transportation. Areas close to major airports or highways are most impacted, according to the department’s interactive noise map.

Many of these areas also tend to have more lower-income residents, and more people of color, than other parts of the county.

“Loud noise produces a stress response, even you don’t notice it and it’s sort of this background hum,” said Charlie Roscoe, an environmental health researcher at Harvard University. “Over time when your body is flooded with stress hormones, that can lead to inflammation and, ultimately, disease.”

Further research shows a link between exposure to traffic noise over time and obesity.

“Noise pollution basically has the ability to negatively affect all of the mechanisms to do with your cardiometabolic health,” Roscoe said.

Who is most at risk? 

The Department of Transportation map shows, in hues of dark blue, purple and red, that many of the noisiest places to live in L.A. County are clustered around airports, business and shopping hubs, and areas surrounded or transected by freeways, including downtown L.A., Inglewood and Glendale.

The health effects may be worse for people of color and those in lower income brackets who are more likely to live in heavy traffic areas, some researchers say.

“Especially in America, rail lines, highways and airports often border neighborhoods that tend to be where the most underserved communities live,” Roscoe said, nodding to the racist history of redlining and highway placement across many U.S. cities.

“People who are already probably experiencing some social risk factors and stressors on their health are the ones who are both experiencing the most noise pollution and most vulnerable to the negative health effects,” she added.

The same inequities apply to children. According to a 2019 study of more than 94,000 U.S. schools, those with a higher percentage of Black, Latino or Asian/Pacific Islander students, as well as students who qualified for free or reduced lunches, were significantly more exposed to street noise.

Noise exposure for children has been linked to lower reading scores, hyperactivity and heightened stress hormones.

How loud is too loud? 

Highway traffic noise ranges from about 70 to 80 decibels at a distance of 50 feet, according to the Department of Transportation. A typical emergency siren measures roughly 124 decibels — louder than a jet takeoff.

Noise levels over 70 decibels can provoke a stress response in many people, spiking cortisol, adrenaline and other stress hormones, according to the National Institutes of Health. The agency also warns that two years of regular exposure to 90 dBs can produce hearing loss.

The World Health Organization found that average road traffic noise above 53 dB is associated with adverse health effects.

In L.A. County, neighborhoods around LAX and the Burbank airport experience average noise levels above 80 dBs, along with Commerce and much of Inglewood, according to the noise map.

A couple of weeks after Lily Niewald moved into her one-bedroom apartment in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles — two blocks from a fire station — she realized there would be a problem: the sound of sirens thundering from firetrucks and emergency vehicles roaring past her ground floor, street-facing apartment countless times a day.

“You not only hear the blaring sound, but you can also feel the vibration,” said Niewald, a 26-year-old student and barista who chose Mid-City for its relative affordability. “It’s stressful and upsetting, but it’s also distracting because I constantly have to stop whatever I’m doing.”

Nighttime noise is more problematic, experts say. The World Health Organization recommends less than 40dB as an annual average of nighttime noise outside the bedroom to prevent sleep disturbances and other health issues.

Niewald, said the constant sound of sirens outside her bedroom window takes a toll on her sleep. She described being jolted awake night after night.

“Your body thinks that there’s some intense danger or something serious happening,” she said. “Even if I’m able to go back to sleep, I feel extra fatigued and have more brain fog the next day.”

Niewald grew up in Manhattan, where there’s plenty of street noise, but she said she now places greater importance on living somewhere quieter.

“Now even when driving I get a whole wave of anxiety throughout my body when a siren starts,” she said. “It sort of makes me hate cities. I definitely value quiet spaces now more than ever.”

Compounding effects of noise 

Traffic noise may be particularly harmful to those struggling with mental health conditions like post traumatic stress disorder, experts say.

“Loud noises especially in the night, you can imagine how that would be triggering for people with PTSD,” Roscoe said. “It's not that everyone is going to experience noise and develop a mental health issue, but if you already have that susceptibility the stress response has been shown to be even greater.”

Prior noise exposure may prime the body to overreact to sounds later, producing a compounding negative effect on the body, Roscoe said.

Studies show that emergency responders are 150% more likely to experience hearing loss over time than the average population, and roughly 26% of firefighters in the U.S. report suffering from tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.

But not all city noise is harmful.

Psychologist David Hindman, former president of the California Psychological Association, said noisiness can also point to a sense of togetherness and liveliness in a community that outweighs some of the negative effects. 

“It’s more complicated than just all noise is bad,” he said. “Often the nosiest areas also have elements of community and engagement that have been shown to be very important to mental and physical health.”

Urban areas are generally associated with higher depression risks than rural ones, many researchers say, but some studies have found higher rates of depression in sprawling suburbs versus more densely populated city centers. They cite more opportunities for social networking and interaction.

Hindman, who worked at a South Central LA health clinic for 15 years, said an abundance of street vendors, churches, holiday festivals and other community gatherings throughout the area created an overall sense of “aliveness.”

Fighting against urban noise 

Local officials try to curb noise in neighborhoods through a variety of tactics. Residents can report excessive noise caused by individuals, businesses and construction sites, by calling the local police department or other designated complaint line.

The county Department of Public Health noted that each jurisdiction is responsible for enforcing its own noise rules.

Workplaces are required to adhere to state noise regulations. For problems with excess noise at work, employees can make complaints to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA.

Highway sound walls are also part of local efforts to dampen the impact of traffic noise.

Last year, Atwater Village secured $2.5 million to build a “living sound wall” made of dead plant matter, which is said to be an effective way to block out noise.

“As someone who lived in a city with a highway running through it, I’ve always been aware of the noise pollution that comes from freeways in this city,” said state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Glendale), who requested the funding from the state. “Folks that live near noise-generating situations have been very expressive to me throughout my tenure in public office."

Portantino authored a state bill, which became law in 2022, directing the California Highway Patrol to test noise-detecting cameras. The idea was that the technology would eventually allow for violators to be automatically ticketed, like a red light camera.

That's a sign of progress, Portantino said, but there is more to be done.

“California is having such a proliferation of freeways, general traffic and noise and impacts quality of life,” he said. “We need more sound barriers throughout the city, and also more parks and green spaces. Just an emphasis on a more tranquil life in L.A. County.”

Southern California summers aren’t exactly known for mugginess.

But uncharacteristic humidity has been clinging to the region for almost a month, and it looks like there’s little relief coming our way.

It’s not enough moisture to create much, if any, rain, but it is abnormal for this time of year

The dew point in Southern California is normally around 60 degrees at this time of year, forecasters say. But in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, the dew point hit almost 70 degrees.

Scientists say humidity generally becomes uncomfortable in the summer when the dew point is higher than 65.

“We do get these prolonged periods of heat, but what is unusual is the humidity,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis.

So, what’s causing this mugginess?

A confluence of atmospheric forces, some hundreds or even thousands of miles away, is collecting and trapping moisture in Southern California.

“It's basically the combination of the warm ocean temperatures, as well as we've just been in the right pattern for some tropical moisture" to be sent our way, Lewis said.

Storms in the Pacific

Storms are to blame, at least in part, for the uncharacteristic humidity in the region this summer.

Two in particular have contributed to moisture levels in Southern California as they traveled across the Pacific Ocean in recent weeks.

Tropical Storm Fausto formed off of Central America earlier this month before moving off into the open ocean and moving toward Hawaii. It briefly was elevated to a Category 2 hurricane over the weekend before weakening again into a tropical storm.

Fausto is expected to continue weakening as it passes to the north of the Hawaiian Islands over the next few days.

The other, stronger storm, Hurricane Genevieve, also formed off the coast of Central America and has been moving relatively parallel to the Mexican coast, several hundred miles offshore.

Genevieve was elevated to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday.

The storms aren’t solely responsible for sending moisture hundreds of miles across the ocean.

Other weather patterns closer to home, including the system of high pressure air currently settled over the Western U.S. and the North American monsoon, siphon the tropical moisture from the storms into our region.

Thankfully, forecasters say, Hurricane Genevieve is not expected to create as much moisture as Fausto and other recent tropical storms.

Warming oceans

Forecasters also say warming ocean temperatures are adding to the humidity.

When the ocean is warmer than usual, the wind blowing inland off the water is also warmer. The warm seawater also evaporates faster, releasing more moisture into the air above it. That moisture is then carried inland by the wind.

Ocean warming is not new in Southern California, but it’s getting worse.

The region has been hit with a series of marine heatwaves over the last decade. They generally recede during the winter, but the current one has lasted for over a year. Scientists say these ocean heatwaves are likely being worsened by human-caused climate change.

But there is some short-term hope on the horizon for humidity-haters.

One, Hurricane Genevieve is not expected to pull as much moisture into our region as other recent weather patterns. And two, forecasters expect drier air to flow in from the northwest, cutting down the humidity a bit, especially inland.

That may not reach people who live along the coast, however, where the higher ocean temperatures will help keep the coastal humidity elevated, especially at night.

Los Angeles-area eviction lawyer Dennis Block has agreed to one year of probation after the California State Bar Court found he violated a court order and engaged in other misconduct.

The decision came through a stipulation — similar to a settlement agreement with the court — in which Block admitted to charging clients improper fees, representing a landlord and their tenant at the same time, signing off on an error-filled court document a junior attorney in his firm generated using ChatGPT and failing to pay court-ordered sanctions for nearly three years.

LAist first reported on these disciplinary charges in January.

Block, who runs a firm that claims to have evicted hundreds of thousands of tenants, is expected to be placed on probation for one year. He will also be required to take classes on ethics and proper handling of client funds if the State Bar Court’s recommendation is approved by the California Supreme Court.

The State Bar Court recommended Block be suspended from practicing law for one year, but allowed the suspension be stayed as long as he complies with ethics rules and his probation conditions.

David Bramante is one of the clients who reported Block to the bar. He said he paid Block $17,000 up front to work on a court motion that needed to be taken care of quickly.

“The Ellis Act work I paid for never got done,” Bramante told LAist. “And when I terminated him, his office wouldn't give me a real accounting of where the money went.”

Bramante said it was only after many months and the State Bar’s investigation that Block’s firm refunded him the money.

Three legal ethics experts told LAist the disciplinary actions the bar recommended against Block are in line with similar cases they have seen in the past.

“This is a pretty serious sanction,” Scott Cummings, a UCLA law professor who teaches legal ethics, told LAist.

Cummings said suspension and disbarment are the two highest forms of discipline given by the bar.

Even though the suspension is being stayed in this case — because Block cooperated with State Bar investigators and has had a long career without disciplinary issues — Cummings said it seems like the bar is sending a message to Block and other attorneys that they need to treat their clients’ interests and money with the highest level of care.

Still, others think the court didn’t go far enough.

Richard Zitrin, an emeritus lecturer with UC Law San Francisco, called it a “slap on the wrist" considering the level of wrongdoing in the case.

“The failure to suspend Mr. Block is letting him get away with clearly unethical conduct that harms his clients,” Zitrin told LAist.

Other clients who were not involved with the bar’s investigation also claimed they had negative experiences with Block’s firm.

Xavier Jones said he hired Block’s firm for a few months in 2025. He told LAist there were no issues at first. Then, he said he saw Block’s attorneys start coming to court unprepared for his case. He said he also felt Block was overbilling him for the firm’s services.

Block would hang up on him when he asked legal questions or about how much he was being billed, Jones said. He said there were two times the firm’s lawyers came to court without having a copy of the tenants’ lease, which he says he sent them.

“I'm paying for this, for them to show up, for them to do their back-end work,” Jones said. “It's just unprofessional, it's embarrassing, and it's costing me a lot of money.”

Jones said he stopped working with Block in November. He said he had lost about $70,000 in unpaid rent, legal fees and other costs he believes could have been avoided with proper legal assistance.

LAist reached out to Block and his attorneys this week for comment, but did not receive a response. Last month, Erin Joyce — Block’s defense attorney — told LAist that the State Bar Court’s investigation into her client was “thorough” and found “no conduct by the firm involved moral turpitude,” which had been alleged in the original charges.

A year ago at this time, the streets of Los Angeles and other American cities were the sites of highly visible, large-scale immigration raids. While those scenes have died down, immigration enforcement remains more quietly active.

Federal data show Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more people in June, at 43,000, than in any month since January 2025. Locally, Los Angeles Police Department officials say June had the highest tally of potential unlawful conduct by federal immigration officers. The 12 incidents investigated mark the most since the department began reporting the data in March.

German Hurtado, LAPD immigration affairs liaison, said in an interview that he noticed the uptick of reported immigration enforcement incidents, but could not say what caused the increase.

In February, Mayor Karen Bass issued a directive requiring the reporting. Police commissioners approved the most recent report at their meeting Tuesday.

Hurtado said the increase seen in June might be reflective of the department’s efforts to capture more of the potential issues.

“We’re finding better ways to improve how to capture these incidents,” Hurtado said. “It could be a combination of everything, but I did see that it was a large increase.”

He said those efforts include changes in how they label calls related to federal immigration enforcement actions and adjustments to the way department computers store the information.

What’s in June’s report

Here’s how that process worked, according to the department’s report:

The LAPD first identified 45 potential federal immigration enforcement actions by searching internal reporting systems for immigration related search terms. The immigration affairs liaison determined 33 of those incidents were unrelated to immigration enforcement.

At the commission's meeting on Tuesday, Lisa Ridoutt, assistant inspector general, explained these incidents included:

• 26 notices from federal agents conducting surveillance in the area
• 2 reports of protests
• 2 medical related incidents
• 1 report of DHS agents executing a search warrant unrelated to immigration
• 1 federal task force meeting
• 1 call reporting someone believed they were pushed from behind by a federal agent. LAPD reviewed security footage and determined no crime had occurred.

The department then looked deeper into 12 enforcement incidents that qualify for reporting under Bass’ executive directive, which asks the LAPD to report when officers document or receive reports of suspected unlawful conduct by immigration officers. Two of those incidents involved an LAPD response in the field, according to the report. The department also says neither resulted in officers being on the scene for an active enforcement action.

The report states the LAPD does not know the overall number of immigration enforcement actions that happened in June.

The 12 reported incidents are a significant increase from previous months. The department reported just four incidents in May, four in April and none in March.

Hurtado said the number of incidents has increased every month since March, potentially because the department is getting better at documenting them.

“It takes a while to teach 8,700 people exactly what to do, so as we are rolling out different training, the officers are now being more observant of it, documenting it more," Hurtado said.

The increase, he added, could also stem from federal authorities communicating with LAPD more. He said federal immigration authorities have not asked LAPD for support during enforcement actions.

The backstory

For decades, the LAPD has refrained from directly enforcing immigration laws. That’s because policing experts say doing so could deter witnesses or victims from cooperating with law enforcement.

State and local laws have codified that policy in recent years and further prohibited California law enforcement from assisting in federal immigration enforcement.

The mayor issued two executive orders last year with instructions for how city departments interact with federal immigration officers.

Executive directive 17 mandates the monthly immigration reports from the LAPD and instructs officers to activate their body-worn cameras whenever they respond to potential immigration-related incidents.

Ridoutt, of the Office of Inspector General, said that while officers did activate body-worn and in-car video systems, the OIG found some recordings were not properly titled or tagged and that some videos or photos from community members were not uploaded to the department’s evidence database as required by department policy.

The Inspector General’s Office reviews the LAPD’s reports to ensure compliance with the directive. Ridoutt said the office will be releasing a more comprehensive report in October or November.

Calls for increased transparency

At previous meetings, commissioners have asked for more details about what calls for service or incident reports entail.

Hurtado said the executive directive just requires the department to release aggregate numbers.

Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the directive calls for greater transparency than what the LAPD’s monthly reports currently provide.

The June report, for example, notes that LAPD twice dispatched officers in response to a report of ICE activity, but provides no description of the department’s role once officers arrived. Cheer said the public should know whether officers were responding for crowd control, interacting with federal agents or serving some other purpose.

Cheer said the LAPD’s monthly reports should explain what happened during the incidents the department counts.

Sophia Wrench, an attorney with Public Counsel, agrees.

“A central purpose of Executive Directive 17 was to provide increased transparency and build public trust, but LAPD’s reporting month after month falls short,” she said in a statement. “The lack of information in its monthly reports only creates more confusion in the community, building greater fear and mistrust of the police.”