Los Angeles advances proposal to cut police budget by up to $150M
The city has seen an increase in murders as lockdown restrictions ease
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles is advancing a proposal to cut its police department’s budget by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday adopted a measure that would bring the city closer to cutting between $100 million and $150 million from the LAPD’s budget. Those funds are to be reinvested into disadvantaged communities of color.
LA HOMICIDES UP BY 250 PERCENT OVER LAST WEEK, LAPD REPORTS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city executives are now responsible for identifying where the funds would be taken from.
The measure was first introduced June 3. The new fiscal year begins July 1, with lawmakers aiming to adopt a budget by June 30.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League warned that reducing the department’s budget would lead to longer response times to 911 calls and inadequate backup for in-need officers, as well as delayed rape, murder and assault investigations
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News previously reported that the LAPD saw a 250 percent weekly increase in murders for the week ending June 6, with a 56 percent increase in gunshot victims during the same time period. Crime had declined in April as coronavirus-related lockdown and social distancing measures kept residents at home.
Campaigns to defund local law enforcement agencies have sprung up around the U.S. in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City lawmakers have said there is $1 billion in funds that can be shifted away from the NYPD and invested in youth and social services. The country’s largest municipal police department announced this week that it would disband its anti-crime unit, which is made up of hundreds of plainclothes officers.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, which is where Floyd died while in police custody, the city council has proposed dismantling the police force entirely, with the intent to replace it with something else. A majority of members of the city council voted in favor of the item earlier this month.