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California National Guard and Los Angeles Police Department protect Los Angeles City Hall during protests over the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Written by Jose Herrera
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday, March 15, approved nearly $9 million to fund training to guide the Los Angeles Police Department’s response to future large-scale protests. This is in response to a report that found flaws in the LAPD’s actions during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
City Council members approved the funding on an 8-3 vote. The funding is intended to improve situations involving the Los Angeles Police Department’s use of less-than-lethal force and mass arrests, and to ensure First Amendment rights.
More progressive City Council members Nitya Raman, Hugo Sotomartínez and Eunice Hernandez voted against the plan. Council members Paul Krekorian, Bob Blumenfield, Heather Hutt and Karen Price were absent during the vote.
The City Council originally approved $8.8 million as part of the May 2023 budget process, according to a Los Angeles Police Department report.
Of the $8.8 million, $4.2 million was to be used for personnel costs, $4 million for overtime costs, and $529,000 for equipment costs.
The salary will be used to pay the staff who will lead the training. Overtime pay will be used to provide training to employees outside of work hours, as the department does not want to take them away from their regular work duties.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it plans to develop an eight-hour mobile field force course, a four-hour field prison operations course, and incident command training.
According to a Los Angeles Police Department report, “Training programs are designed to establish and maintain proficiency for officers to respond to civil disturbance incidents, use less-lethal equipment, and apply best practices.” “I’m here.”
“This training reduces the risk of harm and reduces liability associated with public contracts during extraordinary events and other large-scale deployments.”
In the summer of 2020, Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparked massive protests in Los Angeles and across the United States. Floyd died after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. The police officer was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
In 2021, a report commissioned by the Los Angeles City Council outlined deficiencies in the LAPD’s response to the Los Angeles protests following Floyd’s death.
Highlights of the report revealed that the LAPD’s command staff did not always know who was in charge. The so-called “shadow team,” or team of undercover agents, created chaos and issued orders that contradicted orders already given to police officers. Hundreds of people were injured or claimed their rights were violated. And overall, the department has implemented ineffective tactics and poorly implemented plans to arrest thousands of protesters without a clear plan for deporting or imprisoning those rounded up. did.
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