Pirate's Cove

And what happens when LA become awash in violence? Who will LA blame?

As peaceful protests continue, LAPD budget could be cut by up to $150 million to reinvest in communities of color

As protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd stretched into a sixth day, Los Angeles officials said Wednesday that they will look to cut $100 million to $150 million from the city’s police budget as part of a broader effort to reinvest more dollars into the black community.

In all, Mayor Eric Garcetti pledged that the city would “identify $250 million in cuts so we can invest in jobs, in health, in education and in healing,” especially in the city’s black community “as well as communities of color and women and people who have been left behind.”

Those cuts, he said, would be “to every department, including the Police Department, because we all have to be part of this solution together. We all have to step up and say, ‘What can we sacrifice?’”

Eileen Decker, president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, said that effort includes identifying $100 million to $150 million in cuts from the Police Department — something City Council President Nury Martinez and other council members had called for earlier in the day. The LAPD’s total annual budget is $1.86 billion.

Garcetti also said the city will impose a moratorium on placing people in a statewide database for identifying and tracking gang members — which reform advocates had lobbied for — and will require officers to intervene when they see inappropriate use of force and report misconduct.

In fairness, that’s around 5% of their budget, and, like so much government, how much of of the department’s budget is just waste? Do they really need $1.86 billion? Can they make do with $1.71-1.16 billion? Or are they already underfunded? Will the money redistributed make a difference to deal with the problems created in a Democratic Party run city to help people who vote for the people who help create the problems?

News of Garcetti’s announcement was met with mixed reaction among the demonstrators outside.

Carter Gregory, 26, said it was a good first step. “I think he’s listening and needs to keep going,” he said.

What’s that old saying about feeding an alligator? And the one about giving an inch and them wanting to take a mile?

Elsewhere

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