The Brief

L.A.’s response to the protests — and the violence and vandalism that followed mostly downtown — has cost the city nearly $20 million since the demonstrations erupted June 6, officials say.

The protests, which began after federal agents detained people they suspected of being undocumented at several locations throughout L.A. County, were largely peaceful during the day. But as night fell, violent clashes with authorities erupted and dozens of businesses and properties were vandalized, prompting Bass to impose a seven-day curfew for most of downtown.

Working overtime

The Los Angeles Police Department has incurred the lion’s share of the expense, spending nearly $17 million in response to protests over the past two weeks, according to a report released Monday by Matt Szabo, the city administrative officer. More than $11 million of that has been spent on overtime, his report states.

The expenses came as L.A. Mayor Karen Bass signed a $13 billion budget that included hundreds of layoffs and cuts to city services in an effort to close a nearly billion-dollar deficit.

But this month’s protests have not come near the costs of those that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which totaled more than $40 million in the first two weeks, according to memo by then-Police Chief Michel Moore.

LAPD has also made fewer arrests this month than they did in response to the George Floyd protests.

As of Monday, the LAPD reported making 575 arrests associated with this month’s protests. According to a report by outside independent attorney Gerald Chaleff to the L.A. City Council, more than 4,000 arrests were made in the first two weeks of the protests in 2020 — with 1,242 of those in a single day.

While the department is reporting spending less on the current protests, overtime costs have been making up more of the LAPD’s payroll throughout the year.

Legal liability

Adrienna Wong, a senior staff attorney with ACLU SoCal, told LAist last week that use of force by law enforcement at protests has violated the law.

“We have seen evidence that kinetic projectiles and chemical agents have been used indiscriminately, have injured people that have been protesting peacefully, are journalists or are in a crowd of people,” Wong said, “and that seems to violate the express purpose of these laws.”

Lawsuits against the LAPD related to the 2020 George Floyd protests have been costly, and legal liabilities remain a major concern for Kenneth Mejia, the city controller.

Of 55 lawsuits against the city from the 2020 protests, “the city has since paid out $20 million with 21 cases still open to be resolved,” Mejia said in a video posted to social media.

Diana Chang, a spokesperson for Mejia, told LAist in an email that liability costs have been “a major reason that the City is in a financial crisis” even though these costs are preventable.

On Monday, a lawsuit against the LAPD was filed in federal court by the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent news network Status Coup, claiming the police department violated journalists’ constitutional and statutory rights while they were reporting on this month’s protests.

According to legal filings, the media organizations claim journalists “suffered excessive force and harassment by LAPD officers” and were “barred by the LAPD from areas of the protests where, by law, they should have been permitted access.”

A representative for the LAPD told LAist, “While we cannot comment on pending litigation or specific incidents described in the lawsuit, we can affirm that any reports of force used against members of the public, including the media, are thoroughly investigated.”

Property damage

Local and state officials have criticized the Trump administration for sending in Marines and National Guard troops shortly after the protests broke out, saying the move escalated tensions and fueled the violence and vandalism that came afterward.

According to Szabo’s report to the City Council, $1.4 million in damage had been caused to city buildings and property since this month’s protests began. Mejia said on social media that graffiti removal alone makes up about $86,000 of that amount.

A spokesperson for the mayor told LAist, “Mayor Bass has been clear that the bad actors who have taken advantage of these peaceful protests do not stand with immigrant communities and must be arrested and prosecuted for their actions.”

Listen

Four million acres of California’s wildest backcountry could soon be opened to paving roads and logging.

The Trump administration announced last week that it’s pushing forward with a proposal to scrap a 2001 rule that blocks logging, road building and other construction in parts of national forests. The administration argues repealing the so-called “roadless rule” is key to managing vegetation to better prevent wildfires on public lands.

Environmental advocates and other groups worry rescinding the rule would harm pristine habitat and the wildlife it supports, and open up more public land to industrial activities and human access that can cause more wildfires.

And locals are worried about losing access to some of the last protected natural lands in the region.

“What we're dealing with here in the roadless rule is the protection of the backcountry,” said David Browning, president of the Orange County Mountain Bike Association, “where you can actually go out and be having an experience where you don't hear traffic, where you don't see buildings, where you actually remember what it was like before all of us got here.”

In Southern California, large swaths of the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests would lose protections.

Browning, who spoke with All Things Considered host Julia Paskin on Monday, said he’s particularly concerned about the Santa Ana Mountains, where much of Orange County’s backcountry biking trails exist within a roadless area that could be opened to construction.

“Our mission is to protect and expand trail access, and so our entire agenda is to make sure that in a highly populated county, like Orange, that we have available the outdoors to be able to go and enjoy,” he said.

Browning takes issue with the wildfire argument — he pointed to the 2024 Airport Fire, which was sparked when heavy equipment operated by Orange County employees struck a rock. They were moving large boulders that day to, in part, block vehicles from getting into a dry brush area and potentially starting a fire. Browning said the “roadless rule” prevents such access that could increase the risk of fire. A recent peer-reviewed study supports that, finding that although roads are important for managing a fire once it ignites, they’re also more likely to be a place where a fire starts.

Though addressing wildfires and protecting public lands have become heavily politicized under the Trump administration, Browning thinks most locals probably aren’t as divided.

“ I don't think this is a party issue,” he said. “We want to hold onto the outdoors and protect them as best we can.”

There unfortunately isn’t much respite in sight for heat-weary Southern Californians.

Forecasters say this week’s heat wave is likely to be the hottest so far this summer. Extreme heat warnings will be in effect from the National Weather Service for almost the entire region from Tuesday morning through Friday evening.

Temperatures will peak between Tuesday and Thursday.

Highs in downtown Los Angeles are expected to reach around 100 degrees, and the warmest inland valleys will get up to 112. L.A. County beaches will hit the high 80s.

Forecasters have also issued Red Flag Warnings for the interior mountains and foothills of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Gusty winds and low humidity at higher elevations mean fires could spark and spread quickly.

At lower elevations, humidity continues to make the heat feel more sweltering and make it harder to cool down, especially at night. Nighttime temperatures will only get down to the 70s in most places, including along the coast.

A slight cooldown is expected this weekend, though forecasters say temperatures will stay above normal into next week.

The extreme heat this week poses an especially high risk of heat-related illness for people over 65, young children, people who work or spend a lot of time outside and those without access to air conditioning.

Driving the heat

Several factors are behind this week’s heat wave, many of which have also been behind the rest of this summer’s consistently hot weather.

The main driver is a high pressure air system hovering over the southwestern U.S., trapping warm air, compressing it and warming it further, and blocking cooler air from entering the region.

Offshore winds are also pushing warm inland air toward the coast, preventing cooler onshore winds from blowing inland.

“That blocks our natural air conditioning off the ocean from coming in as early as it normally does,” said Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. “So as long as that cool air stays offshore, it heats up on land.”

The offshore winds are not strong enough, however, to significantly dry out the air in the L.A. Basin and cut down on the humidity.

“That's probably going to be around for the whole summer because you’ve got all this warm ocean water that's feeding into that,” Wofford said.

Warmer seawater evaporates faster, adding to moisture in the air and increasing humidity across the region, especially along the coasts.

Air quality warnings

Along with the heat this week, many Southern Californians also have smog to worry about.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an ozone advisory on Monday for inland areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties, much of Riverside County and parts of San Bernardino County. It will remain in effect through Friday evening.

The multi-day smog event is in part driven by the heatwave.

Officials say ozone pollution may reach unhealthy levels or higher in the Santa Clarita Valley, parts of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino valleys, and portions of the San Bernardino Mountains.

Under unhealthy levels, it’s possible for anyone to experience adverse health effects like difficulty breathing and throat irritation. Sensitive populations could experience more serious effects.

Levels are expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups in the San Fernando Valley, Perris Valley, Mission Viejo, Lake Elsinore, Corona, Hemet, Riverside and Pasadena.

Officials advise certain vulnerable groups — including people with heart or lung disease, those with asthma, pregnant women, children and people over 65 — to limit their time outdoors.

Officials predict that ozone levels will be lower along the coast.