Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), mayoral candidate for the city of Los Angeles, said she would move hundreds of LA’s Police Department officers from desk jobs into patrols if she is elected mayor.
In a plan released this week, Bass detailed how she would improve public safety in the city she says “people don’t feel safe” in.
Bass said in her plan the police department would go back to its authorized 9,700 officers as the LAPD is down hundreds of officers. The department would hire more civilians to do desk work so that 250 officers can be free to go back on patrol.
Bass’s plan also includes improvement of officer training and an expansion of the LAPD homicide department so that the force will be able to solve more murders.
“Whether you’ve had your car broken into, your backpack stolen, your property damaged – or you’ve seen news coverage of home robberies, or violent assaults – more and more Angelenos I speak with tell me crime has touched them personally, and they feel scared. That’s not right. All Angelenos deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods,” Bass said in a letter about the plan.
Bass said she would also increase funding to alternative response teams that would focus on mental health and homeless outreach, giving officers more time to focus on crime.
“We have to allow our officers to actually focus on fighting crime by using response teams that include mental health, homeless outreach and other specialists who can respond to people in distress,” Bass wrote.
The Los Angeles Times reported the LAPD currently has 9,500 officers and almost 2,700 civilian employees.
Bass’s plan comes amid a focus on police reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in May of 2020. Floyd’s death, which was recorded on a cell phone by a bystander, went viral, setting off nationwide protests during that summer.
Floyd’s death garnered calls for the U.S. Congress to take action to address racial injustice and police reform. Bass was one of the lead negotiators on a potential police reform bill along with fellow Democrat Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.)Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
However, negotiations eventually fell through when Republicans were not able to gin up enough support for the legislation. At the time, Scott said that the negotiations fell through over proposals that would have required a decrease in funding to police.