Backlash to Mayor Garcetti's new city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 has spurred some activists to call for a "People's Budget" that spares more social services and reduces spending on the Los Angeles Police Department.
Black Lives Matter-L.A. released a report this week laying out an alternative plan for city spending that emphasizes investment in social work, mental healthcare and conflict resolution instead of law enforcement. Anger over George Floyd's death in Minneapolis at the hands of police, and ensuing protest including in Los Angeles, has added fuel to the movement.
Black Lives Matter-L.A. researcher David Turner says activists surveyed Angelenos to come up with the People’s Budget.
“People want alternatives to law enforcement. People want alternatives to over-policing. And people want to invest in what they know works."
The union that represents the LAPD said in an email there are no new contract talks planned. LAPD officers are taking on more risk than ever during the pandemic, the union added, and the raises in the new budget were fairly negotiated with the city last year.
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