The Budget and Finance committee agreed Monday to cut the Los Angeles Police Department's budget by more than $133 million, withering the force to below 10,000 officers and slicing overtime in the coming year.
The motion was initially filed by Council President Nury Martinez as well as councilmen Herb Wesson and Curren Price.
"We need to rethink what it is that makes people safer and makes communities stronger. We cannot just look at the police in isolation," the motion stated. "There is no doubt that communities of color suffer disproportionately from negative interactions with the police."
On a 4-to-1 vote, the change will launch a new help the city better manage its current financial crisis and recreate a new way of policing.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Councilman Price was the only opposing vote. The only African American council member feels that even more needs to be done and that includes more monetary cuts.
Price who represents a neighborhood patrolled by LAPD, he talked about the recent shooting death of Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old Gardena resident who was killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.
“He was shot by a sheriff deputy, but as far as the community’s concerned, he was shot by police, by law enforcement," he said. “That tragic death just underscores the conversation that’s happening all over this country.”