L.A. Councilmember: ‘I Have My Concerns’ About Passive LAPD Responses to Disorder
During an interview with FOXLA on Tuesday, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez stated that she’s concerned about passive responses by the LAPD to disorder in the city and that it’s not clear why this happened, but it wasn’t due to any policies from the mayor and the City Council.
Rodriguez said, “The chief made it absolutely clear that there was no policy that was brought on by the mayor or the City Council that prevented him from doing enforcement. There was no prohibition, no restrictions. … There were no restrictions that prevented them from enforcing the law and pursuing those individuals that were involved in the looting and destructive acts downtown or anywhere in the city.”
Host Elex Michaelson then asked, “So, why didn’t the LAPD make the decision to stop that, to stop the burning of a car about a block away and some of the other stuff that was happening, when officers were literally just down the street, standing in a line?”
Rodriguez answered, “I asked that same question, and I wasn’t given a great deal of detail as to why, other than they were attempting to secure the perimeter and that there [was] the need to stand up larger-scale detention areas. But, again, these are all things that we will discuss in an after-action report. The fact of the matter is, we know how to do those things as well. Those were also stood up in the aftermath of the civil unrest post-George Floyd. So, the department knows how to do that. There are protocols in place. In fact, I led a number of — holding that department accountable, post-that civil unrest to make sure that the department had really clear ways of approaching these types of large-scale events in a way that really balances and manages to prevent further use of force and liability claims in these procedures. And so, I look forward to engaging in more of that conversation. It’s why I introduced a request for — a motion, rather, for an after-action report coming to the Council.”
Michaelson then asked, “Because it seemed like there [were] almost two different LAPD responses. There was what we saw Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and then Tuesday, when they made the decision, we’re going to do that curfew, it seemed like there was a lot more intensity in sort of saying, we’re not going to take this anymore. Do you read it the same way, and if so, are you satisfied with the way that officers responded in those first few days?”
Rodriguez responded, “I have my concerns, and I will be addressing them procedurally when we have the conversation with the after-action report, because I think it’s really important that no one makes judgment, because we don’t know what the dynamics were at the time, whether there were additional resources that were being deployed or they had other limitations. So, I’d rather withhold my judgment until we have that larger conversation and understand.”
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