The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed on Wednesday that at least seven officers have been relieved of their field duties for using excessive force during protests over the death of George Floyd.
The move comes amid national criticism of police brutality and the violent response from members of several law enforcement agencies to demonstrators advocating for police reform.
“The Los Angeles Police Department continues to investigate allegations of misconduct, violations of Department policy, and excessive force during the recent civil unrest,” the department said in a statement, CNN reports. “Seven employees have been assigned to non-field duties due to improper actions during the protests.”
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Police across the nation are catching heat for using tear gas, rubber bullets and brute force during the civil unrest that has grappled the country in the two weeks since Floyd’s death. The LAPD said of the 56 officer complaints received during this time, 28 involve alleged uses of force.
The department has reportedly assigned 40 investigators to “look into every complaint thoroughly” and “hold every officer accountable for their actions.”
“I am alarmed by the growing number of disturbing accounts and images of peaceful protesters being assaulted with plastic bullets, Tasers, batons, physical force, and of reports that protestors were detained unnecessarily by law enforcement during last weekend’s George Floyd solidarity protests,” LA Councilman Mike Bonin said in a letter to Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.
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Los Angeles is not the only city currently managing cop controversies.
In Philadelphia, a police inspector is facing numerous charges, including aggravated assault, after being caught on camera bashing a protester over the head with a metal baton.
In Buffalo, New York, fifty-seven officers quit the emergency response team after two cops were suspended and charged with assault for shoving an elderly man to the ground, resulting in a head injury. The shocking moment was caught on camera by a reporter covering the Black Lives Matter protest.
Last week in Atlanta, six officers were charged after a viral video showed them using excessive force on two college students.
Several city officials, politicians and citizens alike are now pushing to defund the police.
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