The Los Angeles Police Department has stopped providing special protection for former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a report Saturday.
Harris, who lives in Brentwood, had her Secret Service protection rescinded by President Donald Trump as of Sept. 1. After that move, the California Highway Patrol moved to fill the gap, assisted by specialized units from the LAPD’s Metropolitan Division.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD’s move to terminate the detail, which was made Saturday, came after “heavy criticism within its own ranks that officers were being diverted from crime suppression” to protect Harris, who is also a former California senator and attorney general.
Sources told the newspaper that Metro officers had to be drawn away from crime suppression work in the San Fernando Valley this week. The LAPD protection was ordered by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and was always meant to be temporary, with Harris eventually hiring her own private security, The Times reported.
Officer Norma Eisenman of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section told City News Service on Saturday that the department was “not speaking on the matter of the protective detail.”
The board of directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, blasted the decision to offer Harris special protection.
“Pulling police officers from protecting everyday Angelenos to protect a failed presidential candidate who also happens to be a multi-millionaire with multiple homes and who can easily afford to pay for her own security is nuts,” the board said in a statement provided to CNS. “The mayor should tell Governor Newsom that if he wants to curry favor with Ms. Harris and her donor base then he should open up his own wallet because LA taxpayers should not be footing the bill for this ridiculousness.”
Former vice presidents typically receive Secret Service protection for at least six months after leaving office. Then-President Joe Biden had extended that period for Harris, his ex-running mate, to 18 months before he left office earlier this year, but Trump canceled that order in late August.
Trump defeated Harris in the November 2024 presidential election.