A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council agreed Monday to cut the Police Department’s budget by more than $133 million, slashing police overtime pay in the coming year and taking the size of the force well below 10,000 officers.
The Budget and Finance Committee endorsed the reductions on a 4-to-1 vote, saying such a move would begin the process of reimagining public safety in L.A. while also helping the city cope with a major budget crisis.
Councilman Curren Price cast the only opposing vote, after pushing unsuccessfully for a larger reduction of $150 million. Price, the committee’s only Black member, said more aggressive action is needed, pointing to the recent death of Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old Gardena resident fatally shot 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,” said Price, who represents a part of South Los Angeles patrolled by the LAPD. “That tragic death just underscores the conversation that’s happening all over this country.”
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