The first responsibility of every government is to keep its people safe. That means…
- Ensuring the reliability of our water and power systems
- Fully staffing our Police and Fire Departments
- Improving our Emergency Response
- Building unarmed response teams for mental health crises
Our first responders have faced significant challenges in recent years, including a devastating firestorm, a once-in-a century pandemic, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Although our population has tripled in size, and the department’s call load is ten times greater, the Los Angeles Fire Department operates with fewer stations and a smaller staff than it did 40 years ago. Modernizing LAFD funding will be crucial to meeting the demands of the 21st century.
Community-based policing is necessary to restore trust in law enforcement in communities that have historically suffered from discrimination. While the LAPD has made strides in reform over the past decade, including reducing pretextual stops and complying with federal consent decrees, there is more work to be done. Not every 911 call necessitates a police response. A well-trained unarmed response to mental health crises will provide for safer public encounters, ensuring everyone walks away unharmed.
That being said, Los Angeles is one of the most under-policed major cities in the world. A police force of fewer than 9,000 sworn personnel is insufficient for a city of 4 million people spread over 500 square miles. I support the City’s efforts to offer incentives for LAPD recruitment to keep pace with attrition and expand the force as required.
It is essential that we keep illegal guns off our streets. As a member of the State Assembly, I was honored to receive the “Gun Sense Candidate” distinction from Moms Demand Action.