LOS ANGELES (KNX) - Los Angeles City Council took another step Tuesday toward diverting some LAPD calls to unarmed response teams.
Voting 12-0, the council approved a motion instructing various city departments to create a framework for an Office of Unarmed Response. The plans will draw on data from the city’s existing unarmed response pilot programs, as well as those in other cities.
The council also instructed the LAPD to report back on a list of 911 calls that could be diverted to alternate response teams rather than armed police officers.
In January, Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Bob Blumenfield filed a motion to expedite creating an unarmed response office after three men were killed by LAPD officers in the span of two days. City Council approved an initial $1 million in funding for the effort in March.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who’s been the council’s loudest voice in support of unarmed response, told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that there are various possibilities for what type of calls will be diverted.
“You see places like Denver that have different calls such as loitering, such as mental health crises, such as welfare checks, so we have other lists that we can pull from, but we’re still developing ours,” she said.
Hernandez was the sole no vote on the mayor’s proposed budget, objecting to the outsized funding for the police compared to other city departments and services. The approved 2023-24 budget includes about $14 million to create an Office of Unarmed Response, and $3.2 billion for the LAPD.
Once established, the Office of Unarmed Response will house and manage all the city’s alternative response programs. Hernandez said it may take about a year before anything is finalized and implemented.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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