The Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee unanimously voted to submit proposed police funding cuts to the City Council on Tuesday.
Los Angeles may cut as much as $150 million from law enforcement funding, reinvesting that money in “disadvantaged communities and communities of color.” Further, the measure would “seek input” from those communities, asking them to “provide recommendations for the Council on the use of the City’s General Fund and improvements to our public safety service delivery.”
The press to defund law enforcement is a result of the ongoing demonstrations sparked by the alleged murder of George Floyd by former officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department. The Minneapolis City Council has already unanimously voted to disband its police department in favor of a “community-led public safety system.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League issued a warning regarding the decision, asserting that “Cutting the #LAPD budget means longer responses to 911 calls,” and “officers calling for backup won’t get it.” The League also claimed it would lengthen or eliminate many “rape, murder, and assault” investigations, saying, “an arbitrary cut of $150m will have a huge impact on our community.”
The LAPD currently has their hands full with a 250 percent rise in weekly murder rates as the country emerges from quarantine. This has been compounded with a 56 percent increase in gunshot victims as of the week ending June 6. It remains to be seen how effective this new strategy will be in handling the load.
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