Los Angeles – The Los Angeles City Council has voted to explore the creation of an “Office of Unarmed Response and Safety,” which would deploy unarmed “service providers” to respond to “noncriminal and nonviolent” situations in lieu of a police response. The Blaze reported that the council vote called for a commission to prepare a report with “recommendations to create an Office of Unarmed Response and Safety.”
Since the death of George Floyd, the council has been considering such a measure. In the wake of riots and protests that swept the nation after that incident, the council has advanced a number of efforts that were designed to encourage an increasing number of calls from citizens to be diverted to non-police response units.
Los Angeles council member Mitch O’Farrell has spearheaded the efforts, and he told MSN that LAPD chief Michel Moore is supportive of the program because “He knows this frees up more officers to stop gun crime, assault and deter crime.” O’Farrell continued, “It’s time for the city to finalize the development of a systemic crisis response plan that would send a range of trained, unarmed service providers to respond to nonviolent and noncriminal situations instead of law enforcement.”
Since then Mayor Eric Garcetti slashed the LAPD budget, Los Angeles has been struggling to hire enough police officers to meet the demand while the violent crime rate has skyrocketed.
