Los Angeles park rangers could soon be armed.
On Tuesday, a three-person committee with the Los Angeles City Council advanced a motion authored by Councilmember and L.A. mayor candidate Joe Buscaino that allows park rangers to carry firearms while on-duty.
The Arts, Parks, Health, Education and Neighborhoods Committee passed the motion with a 2-1 vote. Buscaino and Councilmember John Lee voted in favor. Councilman Mike Bonin voted in opposition.
Supporters of the motion included Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michael Moore, the Park Law Enforcement Association, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City and other homeowner associations, City News Service reported.
Those in favor pointed out that L.A. park rangers are given the same police training as the LAPD and armed rangers are a necessity as crime has increased, according to the L.A. Times.
“Some of those crimes, a lot of those crimes, are committed in the parks,” Chief Park Ranger Joe Losorelli said during the meeting.
In addition, Losorelli recalled one particular incident in Elysian Park where rangers waited 10 minutes for police to arrive.
Bonin responded to Losorelli’s statement, saying his issues with motion stem from the idea that park rangers need guns because they have to wait for police response during an emergency.
"If having to call the cops is a justification for somebody being armed, then...are we going to then next month start talking about arming LADOT officers, are we going to start talking about arming parking attendants, are we going to start talking about arming librarians?" Bonin said.
"There's certainly incidents in our libraries and our librarians have to call officers."
Many callers voiced their dissatisfaction with the proposal during the meeting. One of the callers was Black Lives Matter L.A. co-founder Melina Abdullah, according to CNS.
"I'm a mother of three children. I go to the park so that we can get away from the violence of society," she said. "I'm a Black mother of three Black children who see guns on officers as threats to their lives, and so we're asking you to vote no on this motion. Park rangers should not be armed."
The proposal is now in the hands of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
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