By Jeremy Loudenback, The Chronicle of Social Change, June 5, 2020
While a low-grade temblor shook the walls of Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday night, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an unprecedented plan to siphon up to $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department budget as protesters continue to demand transformational policing reform. That’s part of a larger effort to move $250 million from all city departments, including the LAPD, and use it to address health, education and employment in black communities.
Beyond the historic announcement, Garcetti also pledged to address several important juvenile justice issues, including using some of the LAPD funds to invest in youth development programming for communities of color, expanding juvenile diversion efforts and freezing new additions to the state’s controversial gang database.
Thousands have been arrested across L.A. in protests over police violence that started after a widely shared video showed a Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd, an unarmed black man. In addition to voicing anger about police violence toward African Americans, protesters have called on Garcetti to divert millions in LAPD funding into community-oriented programs.
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