In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, activist groups are pushing public school districts nationwide to reconsider whether to station police officers on their campuses.
The Minneapolis and Portland school districts have already voted to end their contracts with their police departments. Activists in Chicago and New York City are pushing their mayors to pull police out of local schools, arguing officers' presence does more harm than good for students.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District, "defunding" school police would be a lot more complicated than canceling a contract. For decades, LAUSD has operated its own police department — one of the largest independent school police forces in the nation.
Read more on LAist.
With guest host Kyle Stokes.
With files from LAist.
We reached out to the president of L.A.'s school police union, Gil Gamez. He declined our request for interview.
Guests:
Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the teacher’s union
Mya Edwards, senior from Venice High School, who graduated yesterday; she is a member of Students Deserve, an LAUSD student led activist group working towards making Black Lives Matter in schools
Gil Gamez, president of Los Angeles School Police Association