LA Begins Defunding Police

Bowing to the police reform movement spurred by Black Lives Matter, the City of Los Angeles has announced its plans for cutting $150 million from its police department.  Joel Fox has this piece in California Political Review detailing what cuts will be made.  Among them will be a reduction of roughly 400 officers, cuts in air support (helicopters), robbery homicide, narcotics and gang divisions.  Desks at police stations will only be staffed on weekdays.  Investigations of automobile accidents will end, and those involved will be required to report them online.  This includes accidents with injuries.

These cuts are being made as polls show that the overwhelming majority of urban blacks do not want reduced policing.  California has enacted radical sentencing reforms in recent years, releasing thousands of habitual criminals from prison, cutting sentencing for most property and drug crimes, and downgrading felony theft crimes to misdemeanors with little or no punishment.  These reforms have put more criminals on the streets and kept them there with reduced arrests and brief stays in county jails.  Adding to this mix are the thousands of prison and jail inmates released this year by executive order to protect them from getting Covid-19, the state’s zero bail policy during the pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter orchestrated rioting allowed by city officials in most parts of the state.   How have these changes impacted the quality of life in California?   Homicides in Los Angeles are on track to exceed 300 for the first time in ten years.  The state is now home to five of the top 25 US cities for violent crime.  And because most property and drug crimes are misdemeanors which are unlikely to be reported or investigated; thefts, vehicle burglaries and drug overdoses are at epidemic levels in many parts of the state.   This is the perfect time for Los Angeles to defund the police.