Los Angeles Police Department Officers would like a show of support from residents. LAPD and L.A. County Sherrifs Officers arrested burglary suspects along PCH last year.
A pro-LAPD Rally will be held from 10 a.m. to noon this Saturday, July 11, at LAPD Headquarters DTLA, 100 W. 1st Street (90012).
An LAPD officer sent the following message to “the good Citizens out there” in Los Angeles:
“We are tired of being maligned, vilified and abandoned, with almost no one standing up for us or the rule of law! Most of you get it but are silent at the moment. Many have told me you’re looking for the right time. And I understand. This is your chance to be seen and heard.
“The current Mayor and City Council have made your communities less safe and have capitulated to malcontents,” the officer said. “This is your chance to change the direction of the false narrative and stand up for what’s right.”
The officer believes that the war on cops and communities would have dire consequences for communities such as Pacific Palisades. The City Council (including Councilman Mike Bonin) voted on July 1 to cut police funding by $150 million, which would lower staffing to 9,757 officers by the summer of 2021.
That decision will cause the City to hire only half of the number of officers needed to replace those who resign or retire in the coming year.
One officer, who did not want to be identified, told Circling the News that the decision doesn’t make any sense, because it means that if extra staff is needed, officers will be working overtime, which would be more expensive than hiring new officers.
The L.A. Times reported on July 1 (“Los Angeles Cuts LAPD Spending, Taking Police Staffing to Its Lowest Level in 12 Years”) that “Of the $150 million in cuts to the LAPD, about $97 million would come from cuts to overtime pay for police officers. Council members and the city’s policy analysts cautioned that at least a portion of those overtime hours could still end up being worked by the LAPD, particularly if the city experiences a major emergency.
“In those instances, the LAPD could ‘bank’ that overtime, letting officers work the extra hours but delaying payment until a future year, allowing officers to be paid for those hours at higher salaries.”
After the civil unrest during the Rodney King crisis and then the Rampart scandal, the Justice Department gave L.A. two choices: a major federal lawsuit or enter into a formal consent decree.
The City chose the latter and according to CNN, “In 2001 — 10 years after the Rodney King beating and nine years after the officers who beat him were acquitted by an all-white suburban jury — the LAPD began what Harvard researchers would later call ‘one of the most ambitious attempts at police reform ever attempted in an American city.’
“The consent decree finally implemented many of the recommendations that came out of the immediate aftermath of the LA riots: it instituted ‘discipline reports,’ created a database of information about officers and supervisors to identify at-risk behavior, revised procedures on search and arrest — and even created a system to account for instances of police dogs biting members of the public.”
In May 2013 (“Federal Judge Lifts LAPD Consent Decree”), the L.A. Times quoted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa saying “In these last 12 years the Los Angeles Police Department did not just comply with the consent decree, they took it to heart. They used it as a guide to change their culture,” at a news conference with Police Chief Charlie Beck and members of the Police Commission, the civilian board that oversees the department. “The entire department, from the officers on the beat in the neighborhoods to the top brass downtown, have made these reforms their reforms,” Villaraigosa said.
According to LAPDonline.org, there are about 9,867 sworn officers and the racial makeup of the LAPD mirrors Los Angeles as a whole: 50% Latino, 30% white, 10% Asian Pacific Islander and 9% black.
According to the U.S. Census data, in 2019, L.A. was 48.6% Latino, 28.5% white, 11.6% Asian and 8.9% black.
People who would like to participate in Saturday’s rally are reminded to wear masks and “please bring signs.” Shirts will be sold at the rally for $20 each. Cash only.
The officer wrote, “I hope you will all join us! We thank you all.”
We will be there 100% rain or shine