LA City Leaders Look To Cut LAPD Funding

LOS ANGELES, CA — Three City Council members filed a motion Wednesday to cut the Los Angeles Police Department's budget by $100 million to $150 million for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The motion was filed by Council President Nury Martinez as well as councilmen Herb Wesson and Curren Price.

"We need to rethink what it is that makes people safer and makes communities stronger. We cannot just look at the police in isolation," the motion stated. "There is no doubt that communities of color suffer disproportionately from negative interactions with the police."

The operating budget of the LAPD is proposed to be nearly $1.86 billion, up about $122 million from last year, but advocates have said, especially due to the financial reckoning of COVID-19, enhancing police spending is not the right move at this time. At A press conference Wednesday night, Garcetti said the city would not be increasing LAPD funding.

"The city of Los Angeles is in the midst of a health and economic pandemic unlike any we have ever seen in our lifetimes," Martinez said. "Following the gruesome murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, we are also in the midst of a social and racial justice crisis of epic proportions, where the good people of Los Angeles as well as the nation are asking their leaders to re-examine our priorities and to commit to taking a giant leap forward in recognizing and ending racism against black Americans."

Martinez said the budget reduction is "just one aspect of change," and that to end racism will take broader and ideological changes.

"Ultimately, we cannot talk about change, we have to be about change," the council president said.

The motion also instructs the City Administrative Officer and Chief Legislative Analyst to provide recommendations on reallocating the funds into "disadvantaged communities and communities of color."

"Our only path forward is to dismantle the systems that are designed to harm people of color," Wesson said on Twitter. "A preliminary cut to the LAPD budget will not solve everything, but it's a step toward to being the city we aspire to be."

According to Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, the city's Office of Finance is anticipating 2021 tax revenues will be a minimum of $45 million short of Mayor Eric Garcetti's proposed budget and could fall short by as much as $400 million, depending upon how quickly the economy recovers.

Some members of Black Lives Matter and other groups, in conjunction with continuing protests over police brutality and officer-involved shootings, have been calling for even more sweeping reductions in LAPD funding.

People's Budget LA is a coalition of organizations led by BLM that's been advocating for police funding to be spent on social services, such as housing for homeless people.

However, the People's Budget proposal would reduce LAPD spending to about a tenth of what it is now.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors, which represents LAPD officers, said in a statement a reduction in funding that large would be "dangerous."

"Their 'budget' will guarantee that the last several nights of mayhem in Los Angeles will be the new normal," the board said in a statement. "Laying off over 9,000 officers will leave just over 900 officers to police our city. It would be a dream come true for gang members and criminals and would expose every single neighborhood in Los Angeles to an unprecedented level of crime."

"We expressed our genuine disgust and outrage at the murder of George Floyd," the board stated. "We've advocated for the overhaul of use-of- force training and policies across the state. We have been a willing partner each and every time a city leader has asked us to come to the table and provide solutions."

The City Council's Budget and Finance Committee is scheduled to meet June 8, 15, 22 and 29 to make final revisions to the budget before it needs to be adopted and signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti on June 30. The 2020-2021 fiscal year begins July 1.

Floyd died May 25 after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis Police Department officer, Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on the 46-year-old black man's neck for several minutes while three other officers looked on.

Video footage of the arrest, in which Floyd is heard saying "I can't breathe," spread widely online, and all four officers were fired.

Floyd's death sparked protests and unrest across the nation.

"We have proven that we can step up and tackle the challenges this city faces collaboratively. We deserved to be treated better than political cover for a politician looking to blame instead of working together," the board stated, referring to Council President Nury Martinez, who co-authored the budget cut proposal with council members Herb Wesson, Curren Price and Monica Rodriguez.

Police commissioners said on Tuesday they will look to change policies to require officers to report misconduct of other police officers as soon as they identify it and require them to be more involved in the with residents in the areas they patrol.

"We will move forward with our community, our Los Angeles, to ensure that we start the healing process for everyone and ensure the fundamental principles of fairness, equity and dignity are available to every Angeleno, not just some," Decker said.

Garcetti said the Civil and Human Rights Commission will hold its first meeting "as soon as late next week." The Civil and Human Rights Department announced its first executive director, Capri Maddox, in February.

The department is intended to address inequalities and discrimination in Los Angeles and seek to address those matters by enforcing the Civil and Human Rights Ordinance.

"... We aren't just putting the work of moving forward on the shoulders of activists or of African Americans or police officers. It's on those of us who have been elected to represent you to step up to this moment," Garcetti said.

"We cannot just be anti-violence. We have to be pro-humanity."

Curfews will no longer be issued after Wednesday night, Garcetti said, as long as there isn't any additional looting or acts of violence in Los Angeles associated with the protests.

"We are at a moment which we should all demand more of each other," Garcetti said. "You certainly demanded more of me, and I've heard you."

While Garcetti spoke, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 in Searles Valley in San Bernardino County led to some shaking in the Southland, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

"I was just informed, too, that we just had a large earthquake, as if things couldn't get worse," Garcetti said. "Our hearts and our activities will go to support everybody in San Bernardino. We're still assessing to see what that sort of damage there is."

City News Service