For Immediate Release // Please Excuse Cross Posting
Monday, June 4th, 2018
Contact: Armando Carmona, 323-250-3018; armando@ndlon.org

NDLON Response to Mayor’s Selection of New LAPD Chief: New LAPD Chief Has An Obligation to Reform LAPD Policies

Los Angeles, CA – Today, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he has chosen Michel Moore to be the next LAPD Chief of Police, replacing Chief Charlie Beck who will step down later this month.

In response, Emi MacLean, NDLON Staff Attorney, issued the following statement:

“We are hopeful that, if confirmed, Chief Moore will fully extricate the Los Angeles Police Department from its entanglement with ICE by enacting a clear policy ending all participation with Trump’s deportation force. Particularly now, being the Chief of police in Los Angeles is a singularly important law enforcement position. With it comes a clear obligation to reform LAPD’s policies to protect our city from the over-policing and systemic criminalization of Black and Brown communities.

“There is a clear consensus within the civil rights community that ICE should be fully kicked out of Los Angeles and dismantled in order to protect public safety. While sanctuary policies (including LAPD’s 1979 Special Order 40 and its progeny) have been important for the city and the country, the next generation of LAPD policies must do more to address the terror and devastation caused by police collaboration with ICE.

“Decades-long efforts targeting and over-policing Black, Brown and immigrant communities has resulted in the destruction and separation of Los Angeles families. The New Chief has an obligation to take seriously the grassroots efforts to decriminalize Black and Brown bodies. Many issues remain in the Department, including continued LAPD-ICE collaboration, over-incarceration, and high numbers of officer-related shootings and deaths. Reforms are overdue.”

A letter from NDLON and 20 other LA organizations to Mayor Garcetti regarding the selection of LAPD Chief is available here and excerpted below:

“[A]ll candidates have recognized that there is more that must be done to reform LAPD’s policies with regard to immigration. LAPD policy still facilitates the deportation of City residents. LAPD’s existing policies permit sharing information with ICE, collecting sensitive information about place of birth or immigration status where not required by law, ICE access to the jails, and LAPD’s direct participation in criminal immigration enforcement and federal joint task forces with immigration authorities. The incoming Chief should prioritize the privacy and freedom of our residents—and the unity of our communities and families—over the relationship with federal immigration authorities.

We recognize that an expansive law enforcement budget too often translates into over-policing, particularly in communities of color, which further increases deportations in our city. It also diverts resources from necessary social programs. . . .Detention also too often tips the balance in plea negotiations, and reform is long overdue. We urge the next Chief to expeditiously limit policing of quality of life and other minor offenses; reform the Department’s direct citation policy; limit detention and money bail; and endorse prearrest diversion to limit unnecessary involvement with the criminal justice system.”

Available here is the response from Michel Moore, LAPD’s incoming police chief, on policies concerning immigration—including police-ICE collaboration, detention, and over-policing—following a questionnaire presented by the organizations in the above-referenced letter.

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