A Los Angeles Police Department officer died Monday morning from complications related to COVID-19, according to the department’s official Twitter account.
Becky Strong joined the department in 1994 and was most recently working in the South Traffic Division.
A social media post by the department said, “Our deepest condolences go out to Officer Strong's entire family, colleagues, and friends in this most difficult time.”
The county is currently experiencing a surge of new cases in part due to the highly contagious Delta variant. L.A. County Public Health confirmed 2,361 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
The number was a dip from the previous four days where more than 3,000 new cases were reported each day. The vast majority of new cases are from among the unvaccinated.
In response to the growing number of new cases, the city of L.A. announced last week that all city employees must be vaccinated or show weekly negative COVID-19 tests. Following the announcement, the police officers’ union Los Angeles Police Protective League released the following statement:
"We advise our members to consult with their personal physician about any individual concern or questions they may have about the COVID vaccines. We have yet to see any proposed vaccination policy, but we are prepared to meet and confer with the City to discuss any proposal and to ensure our members are treated fairly."
LAPD Chief Michel Moore has said more than half of the department's employees are fully vaccinated. However, an L.A. Times survey from June found law enforcement has a lower vaccination rate than the general public in L.A. County. According to the survey, 30 percent of sheriff’s department staff received a vaccine through an employee clinic. According to the most recent figures, 63 percent of L.A. County residents aged 16 and older are fully vaccinated.
Controversial L.A. County Sherriff Alex Villanueva said his department will not enforce the city's mask mandate. "I think [the mandate] was hatched in darkness and it wasn't a collaborative effort," Villanueva told KNX. "It doesn't have science behind it, plain and simple."
Health officials and doctors, however, have been outspoken in their support of the mask mandate.
City leaders have expressed their concern with unvaccinated law municipal workers, including police officers.
“How can we ask Angelenos to get vaccinated if we’re not doing it ourselves?” asked City Council President Nury Martinez at a press conference announcing the local vaccination mandate.
Martinez said it is difficult to encourage residents to get vaccinated when many cops and firefighters are not.
Los Angeles city leaders met with labor partners last Wednesday to discuss how to institute the vaccination mandate.
"For the families who are mourning loved ones who have passed away, we are mourning with you,” said the county’s Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer in a statement Monday.
“It is never too late to get vaccinated and get protected.”