Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced plans to cut the budget of the Los Angeles Police Department by up to $150 million as part of its reform efforts in the city. The decision comes in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and resulting protests calling for the end of police brutality, particularly against black men and women, and a defunding of the LAPD and other forces around the country.
The movement for racial justice is bigger than a budget, but budgets are statements of our values. We will be working to identify $250 million for further investments in community programs, including cuts to LAPD’s budget.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) June 4, 2020
- Garcetti’s announcement comes during an “urgent moment” for the city of LA. During a press conference held on Wednesday, June 3, Garcetti said that he is “committed to making this moment not just a moment.” He said that the millions of dollars being cut from the LAPD’s budget would instead be reinvested into black communities, Deadline reports.
- The measure is part of Garcetti’s plan to “end racism” in the city of Los Angeles. “Prejudice can never be a part of police work,” Garcetti said during the conference, adding that part of his plan would be to cut a chunk of the LAPD’s budget to “reinvest in black communities and communities of color.”
- An additional $100 million will be cut from other areas of the budget. While the LAPD’s budget cuts represent the largest amount to be diverted, there were cuts across the board in Garcetti’s plans. This money can then be used to “invest in jobs, in education and healing,” he said.
- Instead of cuts, the LAPD got a huge budget increase for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. It was previously announced that the force’s annual budget would increase from $1.189 billion last year to $1.86 in 2020-2021. This included roughly $41 million in bonuses and up to a 7% spending increase, according to NPR. Unsurprisingly, this move provoked extreme outrage from city residents.
- Garcetti’s promise backtracks on those plans. Not only that, but LA City Council President Nury Martinez made the LAPD budget cuts official on June 3, introducing a measure with two other city council members “as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd. This is just one small step. We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change.”
- The funds should be distributed ASAP. Cutting the LAPD’s budget is something the black community in Los Angeles should see the benefits of sooner rather than later, with Garcetti promising that the money diverted from the police would be distributed “now, not years from now.” He also claimed that police officers would receive further training to recognize, process, and take responsibility for their own implicit bias.
Today we intrdcd a motion to cut funding to the LAPD, as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & the #BlackLivesMatter call that we all support to end racism. This is just one small step. We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change. pic.twitter.com/hR1tBAqwHP
— Nury Martinez (@CD6Nury) June 3, 2020
