CommentsGUEST WORDS-Atomic Scientists have the Doomsday Clock, which is a mere 100 seconds to midnight.
This Clock is used as a barometer to convey threats to humanity and the planet. Law-abiding citizens have a thin blue line to judge our safety. This term refers to the concept of the police as the line that keeps society from a descent into chaos and violence. Now that Los Angeles has defunded the cops, how much thinner is that line?
Mayor Garcetti and the City Council have taken a knee due to activists' demands. They are leveraging a situation in Minneapolis that has nothing to do with the men in Blue here in LA. They have reduced police funding by $150 Million. In doing so, Mayor Garcetti has broken a solemn election promise to have 10,000 Law Enforcement Officers in LA. LAPD funding is at the lowest level since 2008. While $150 Million may seem a small amount of money taken from the Los Angeles Police Department budget, it will have an over-sized impact on how the police go about their business.
Activists have been keen on this idea because they believe funds taken away from the police will be used for better purposes in the inner city. Are there better purposes than keeping people safe? Due to Los Angeles' deteriorating fiscal situation, the money that was defunded from the police will most likely be used to plug the City's megalodon-sized budget deficit. The defunding has made great swaths of polite society feel less safe. One can see this in the record number of gun sales. According to the FBI, the number of background checks in California jumped 9% from September to October and is up 57% from just a year ago. LAPD Chief of Police Michel Moore contends that having all these novice gun owners will make us less safe. The irony of Californians arming themselves for protection in the largest anti 2nd amendment state seems lost on the activists who called forth the mobs, protesting, and looting. This extreme reaction is among folks who thought they would never own a gun, as little as a year back. Another sign of the fear permeating the City, the Sherriff's Department is flooded with permits for concealed carry permits.
Chief Moore (photo left), at the November Encino Property Owners Association meeting, did not sugarcoat the effects of the $150 Million loss on what the police can do. Police will no longer be responding to traffic accidents unless they are injuries. The police will no longer be dealing with Homeless issues, so you're on your own with problematic homeless situations. The front desk at Police Stations will no longer have an officer there 24 -7 as they will be needed on patrol. The LAPD will not replace those who are retiring with a new class of police cadets. While Chief Moore expects the numbers to be a manageable 500 fewer officers, the word on the street is in January, due to favorable pension rules, there will be a mass exodus out of the LAPD.
The LAPD will try to maintain their emergency response times for violent crime, burglaries, grand-theft, and life-threa tening situations to 7 or 8 minutes. This response time gives burglars an easy 3 minutes to ransack your bedroom for valuables and plenty of time to make their getaway. Additionally, the areas with the highest historical crime rates will probably feel the cutbacks the most. NBC News reported that LA's murder rate is 25% higher than last year. Shooting victims are now averaging 3.3 per day vs. 2.7 in 2019, a 22% increase in the daily total. In fairness, these crime statistics may be skewed due to a feud between rival gangs in South L.A.
There will be dramatic downsizing in several bureaus and essential units of the LAPD. These include air support, robbery, homicide, gang, and narcotics divisions, and teams that cover homelessness issues.
The LAPD defunding comes at the same time Los Angeles’ elected politicians push for more inmate releases, lower bail requirements and more lenient criminal sentencing. Mayor Garcetti and the City Council were all agreeable to the cuts, with the notable exception of Councilman Paul Koretz, who fought valiantly against defunding. His work saved the amount cut from being much worse. The civic leaders who have embraced the magical thinking of defunding the police will ultimately bear significant responsibility for the inevitable increase in crime and the growing lack of trust in the police department.
(Eliot Cohen is President of Homeowners of Encino. [email protected])
-cw
