One of the few concrete demands you’ll hear from Black Lives Matter protesters is a call to #DefundPolice. There’s disagreement among activists about exactly what that means, but at a minimum some would like to see cuts to police budgets and to see that money redirected toward more social services instead. Here’s how the Black Lives Matter website puts it: “We call for a national defunding of police. We demand investment in our communities and the resources to ensure Black people not only survive, but thrive.”
Wednesday night, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles gave the activists some of what they want, announcing that he is rolling back a planned increase in the LAPD budget and instead seeking cuts of $100-$150 million from the LAPD.
In an unexpected move, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that a planned funding increase for LAPD has been canceled and the city will likely seek as much as $150 million in further cuts, with the money used for “reinvesting in black communities and communities of color.”…
Prior to the announcement, the city was actually planning a 7% increase in funding for LAPD, which would have given the department approximately 53% of the city’s general fund. This despite the fact that major cuts were planned for other essential services due to budget shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.
“We can’t walk to the promised land in a single day, nor a single week, but we better get ready,” Garcetti said. The Mayor’s ability to defend a budget increase for police may have been hurt earlier this week by a comment from police chief
Garcetti’s decision was immediately judged insufficient by one LA Black Lives Matter organizer:
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles organizer Melina Abdullah, in a statement relayed through the People’s Budget campaign, said they were “encouraged to see that our constant action has pushed Mayor Garcetti, City Council to back up their nice words with some actual action, however small, that directly confronts the racist police state that is the city of Los Angeles.”
Here’s the full Garcetti press conference.
