People’s Budget LA: $150 Million In Cuts Proposed To LAPD Is A Start, But City Council And Mayor Garcetti Need To Go Much Further
SUMMARY
People’s Budget LA, a coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles (BLM-LA), is encouraged as City Council President Nury Martinez has introduced a motion calling for up to $150 million in cuts to LAPD to be redistributed to communities of color.
However, the group insists that much more extensive cuts to the LAPD are necessary, pointing out that even a cut of $150 million would still leave LAPD with 51% of the city’s unrestricted revenues. The People’s Budget, a document created by the group, allocates just 5.7% to traditional law enforcement, with much more money going to human-centered services such as housing, healthcare, transportation, and so on.
People’s Budget LA will continue to fight for City Council and the Mayor to make more significant changes to the budget.
LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA have declared victory after news broke of City Council President Nury Martinez introducing a motion to cut between $100 million and $150 million from the LAPD to be reinvested in disadvantaged communities and communities of color.
“We’re encouraged to see that our constant action has pushed Mayor Garcetti and 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,” said Melina Abdullah, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “And let’s be clear: this is the result of years of ongoing organizing by Black Lives Matter LA and our coalition partners that laid the ground for the ongoing waves of protests.”
“But they need to go much further. $150 million looks big, until you realize it still leaves the LAPD with 51% of the city’s unrestricted revenues. That’s not at all acceptable. Our People’s Budget allocates just 5.7% of funds to traditional law enforcement. City Council and Mayor Garcetti need to know that we’re fighting for truly transformative change here and won’t be bought off with just this minimal amount of money.”