Statement on Garcetti’s LAPD “Community Safety Partnerships” Bureau

Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles stands in strong opposition to Mayor Garcetti’s announced new, permanent LAPD Bureau of “Community Safety Partnerships.”

This new bureau is problematic for several reasons, not the least of which is that the proposed expansion of police into areas for which youth workers, educators, recreational professionals, and preventionists/interventionists should be enlisted.

Additionally, the expansion of LAPD is the exact opposite of the call of the hundreds of thousands of protestors in the streets to “defund the police.”

Finally, it was hugely disrespectful for the mayor to appropriate our call to “reimagine public safety.” Spending more on police is not what is meant.

Putting the word “community” in front of policing doesn’t make it not problematic.

What we need is community-driven, non-police approaches to public safety.