STATEMENT: City of Los Angeles’ 2020-21 Budget Fails to Recognize that Black Lives Matter and Continues to Prioritize Policing over Community Needs
Press Contacts:
Katie Smith, Director of Communications, 323-997-2194
Ronald Simms Jr., Communications Manager, 202-270-0936
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council passed the 2020-2021 budget, trimming a nominal $150 million from the massive $3.14 billion Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) budget proposed in April. This decision, which amounts to a mere $15.6 million reduction of LAPD’s 2019-20 budget, renders the Mayor’s recent announcement that “it is time to move our rhetoric towards action to end racism in our city” meaningless. Instead, the budget continues to give a malfunctioning LAPD more than half of the city’s “unrestricted” general fund revenue—a commitment that dwarfs investments in health, housing, and other vital services and supports in the midst of COVID-19.
“The Mayor’s response to landmark public outcries about the crippling effect of generations of systemic racism is disheartening and fails to meet this moment,” said Chauncee Smith, Policy and Research Analyst at Advancement Project California. “The LAPD’s new budget is a surface level adjustment rather than a meaningful shift away from over-policing. Instead of reform, the Mayor is loud and clear about prioritizing the interests of police, not low-income communities of color.”
This comes as COVID-19 ravages low-income communities of color, and tens of thousands of Angelenos protest police brutality and disinvestment from Black and Brown communities. The Mayor and City Council should reimagine how government responds to the needs of people they were elected to represent. Communities of color need access to housing, better public health, free public transportation, quality food, and parks—not a militarized, violent police state.
In addition to misallocating resources, the budget was developed without meaningful community input, only shifts two-thirds of the LAPD’s $150 million budget adjustment to services for Black and Brown communities, fails to provide sufficient details on what investments for Black and Brown people will look like, and lacks safeguards to ensure that funding actually flows to them. This troubling approach tracks with the Mayjor’s recent attempt to pacify Angelenos’ concerns by creating an Office of Racial Equity without consulting with impacted communities—such as the embRACE Equity Alliance—that have been working to establish this office for years.
In contrast, the City Council voted on a slate of police, public safety, and racial equity reforms yesterday that could significantly transform the future of policing. Councilwoman Nury Martinez co-authored a motion with Herb Wesson that limits police-involvement in responses to non-violent calls and would instead dispatch unarmed teams of medical professionals, homeless outreach specialists, and social workers to handle these crises. Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson and others proposed replacing police officers with Department of Transportation staffers or automated technology to handle traffic law enforcement—one of the leading interactions between police and the members public that all too often leads to racial profiling and uses of force. These are the kinds of alternatives to policing that should be implemented quickly, with extensive community engagement, and enough nuance to meet the racial, economic, and cultural diversity that is Los Angeles.
“Since the murder of George Floyd, Angelenos of all backgrounds took to the streets and braved both a pandemic and an overly-reactive, out-of-control LAPD. Following the call from our Black leaders, we have declared that it was time for a new vision for Los Angeles. There is no such vision to be found in this current budget, rather we see a document that charts the “path of least resistance” that simply kicks the can down the road,” said John Kim, Executive Director of APCA. “Our communities have spoken and presented ideas to reduce law-enforcement spending and dramatically rethink what policing can look like in L.A. We need more elected officials willing to work with residents to chart a better way forward.”
Advancement Project California is a multi-racial, multi-generational racial justice organization with expertise in research, advocacy, and policy. We work with partners and communities to expand educational opportunities for California’s children, create healthy and safe neighborhoods, ensure communities of color have a voice in our democracy, strengthen movement-building, and shift public investments toward programs that benefit all Californians—not just the privileged few.
For more information, visit www.advancementprojectca.org. Follow us on Twitter @AP_California.