The city of Los Angeles has taken steps toward reforming its police department.
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On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council announced its plan to redirect $56.6M from the police department’s budget. The funds will be allocated to alternative methods of policing and to benefit communities of color, per NBC Los Angeles.
“To the degree that the programs recommended for funding are proposed to be ongoing in nature, ongoing sources of funding will need to be identified pursuant to the city’s financial policies,” per a staff report.
Much of the monies allocated support “one-time” funding and will still need mayoral approval.
The change comes just one year after protests erupted after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a former Minneapolis police officer and the city announced its plan to divert $150M away from the LAPD.
The funds are expected to go toward community-upgrade programs, youth and homeless outreach and programming. There are also plans to reimagine public safety programs across the city and millions of dollars will go toward community grant programs. There will be “environmental enhancements” and “quality of life services.”
The money will be divided across 15 City Council districts.
Earlier this year, The City Council approved a spending agenda for $32.2M of the diverted funds but were met with resistance from Mayor Eric Garcetti who vetoed the spending proposal. He eventually signed off on a reworked plan by the council which voted to override the mayoral veto.
Despite LA moving forward with changes in its approach to policing, a recent study suggests that many Americans are not interested in defunding the police.
A recent study published by Ipsos and USA Today disclosed that most Americans don’t agree with the proposed measure to completely take money from policing.
While many activists call for police reform, the strategy that suggests redistributing funds allocated for police departments has been met with major criticism, as reported by theGrio.
The poll questioned 1,165 Americans between March 1 and 2 and discovered 67% of white Americans are against the strategy, along with 84% of Republicans.
The term began to gain momentum in 2020 after Floyd‘s death. Activists like Tamika Mallory have been instrumental in leading the charge for police reform and said some assume the term calls for police abolishment, even though that is inaccurate.
“Number one–it’s not what I think defund means, I know what it means, because there’s a big difference between abolishment and defunding,” said Mallory to The Jasmine Brand in December.
The study adds that a whopping 67% of people oppose abolishing the police, but Mallory is not one of them. She goes on to explain she is in favor of abolishing the police, but the idea does not support a lawless society.
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“Abolish police would be to get rid of police forever, right? And, I am an abolitionist, and there are many who are, who believe that one day we could get to a place where we have a different system for addressing, you know, rape, and murder and things that require people who might not be able to function in society with the rest of us…to put them somewhere or deal with them in some way.”
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