The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to put $100 million — which was cut from the Los Angeles Police Department’s budget earlier this year — toward community programs in disenfranchised neighborhoods and communities of color.
“This year we saw a national and local call for change in our disenfranchised communities of color,” Council President Nury Martinez said. “We listened to our Black and brown communities as they asked for more resources, the same resources they see in affluent communities and are easy to take for granted unless you’ve had to push a stroller through dirt in the dark, unless you live in a garage and your kids rely on parks as their only play space.”
Over the summer, amid protests related to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Los Angeles City Council approved a recommendation from Mayor Eric Garcetti to cut $150 million from the LAPD and forego a proposed increase to the police department’s operating budget.
Of that money, $40 million has already been used to address Los Angeles’ ballooning budget deficit amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and $10 million went to an unappropriated account.
Of the remaining $100 million, $10 million went to the Summer Youth Jobs program for kids in disadvantaged communities and $1.8 million went to the newly created Civil and Human Rights Department.
The City Council approved funding for the remaining $88.2 million throughout all 15 Council Districts based on need and income disparity, with Council District 9 in South Los Angeles as the highest-need district, and Council District 11 as the lowest-need district.