LA keeps paying out huge liability claims.
Why do we allow this? Take, for example, one of the claims against LAPD for excessive use of force in 2024. $23.8M, out of our pockets. We all know that culture is a huge problem at LAPD. So why do we allow it to persist? LAPD are clearly not going to change on their own, and it’s clear that elected officials are too chicken shit to actually do something about them.
So it seems to me that citizens need to step up. Here’s one idea: a ballot initiative that would reduce the salaries of senior LAPD officers and administrators by 15% and rank and file officers by 10% after each such claim until the debt is paid back. This would strongly encourage the officers to police their own and change the culture from within.
And what about the neglect of the city by so many departments? Just look at the amount of tumblr trash blowing through the streets, trash LASan is supposed to be cleaning up. The City paid out $21M because parts of a street light fell on someone and permanently disabled him. An investigation found multiple streetlights that were in a similar condition because the City couldn’t be bothered to proactively maintain them. This type of negligence is a consequence of a lack of leadership and oversight of City departments which is, in turn, a consequence of the Mayor having few real powers and the absurdity of a 15-member City Council for a city of 4 million. Each Council Member cannot possibly address the needs of their constituents because they are stretched so thin and, thus, beholden to the richest, loudest voices. A ballot initiative to 1) Expand the City Council to 30, and 2) Implement a City Charter to give the Mayor more powers (with adequate oversight) would go a long way to addressing these issues.
Why do we allow this? Take, for example, one of the claims against LAPD for excessive use of force in 2024. $23.8M, out of our pockets. We all know that culture is a huge problem at LAPD. So why do we allow it to persist? LAPD are clearly not going to change on their own, and it’s clear that elected officials are too chicken shit to actually do something about them.
So it seems to me that citizens need to step up. Here’s one idea: a ballot initiative that would reduce the salaries of senior LAPD officers and administrators by 15% and rank and file officers by 10% after each such claim until the debt is paid back. This would strongly encourage the officers to police their own and change the culture from within.
And what about the neglect of the city by so many departments? Just look at the amount of tumblr trash blowing through the streets, trash LASan is supposed to be cleaning up. The City paid out $21M because parts of a street light fell on someone and permanently disabled him. An investigation found multiple streetlights that were in a similar condition because the City couldn’t be bothered to proactively maintain them. This type of negligence is a consequence of a lack of leadership and oversight of City departments which is, in turn, a consequence of the Mayor having few real powers and the absurdity of a 15-member City Council for a city of 4 million. Each Council Member cannot possibly address the needs of their constituents because they are stretched so thin and, thus, beholden to the richest, loudest voices. A ballot initiative to 1) Expand the City Council to 30, and 2) Implement a City Charter to give the Mayor more powers (with adequate oversight) would go a long way to addressing these issues.