Proposal for Los Angeles school district police would remove them from campuses

A plan presented to the Los Angeles Unified school board calls for removing police officers from school campuses and eliminating weekend patrols meant to protect schools from vandalism.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the debate over the proposed cuts marks a split on the board over the role that armed, uniformed officers should play in the district’s schools. The board is expected to consider the plan later this month.

The board first took up the idea of overhauling its police force this summer amid national protests over killings of Black people by police officers. Board members voted 4 to 3 in June to cut $25 million from the police department’s $70 million budget — a 36% reduction.

[FROM July 2020: Los Angeles board cuts district police budget by $25 million]

The biggest proposed cut, nearly $6.3 million, would entirely eliminate weekend and overnight patrol services that are set up to protect school property.

The second-largest reduction, close to $5.9 million, would remove all officers from campus-based assignments. Instead, they would shift to a plan under which officers would patrol areas around schools and come on campuses when summoned.

Some cuts would affect ongoing efforts to improve interactions between students and police, in which officers serve as mentors and participate in school activities.

Twenty officers in the 471-employee department have resigned since the cuts were approved.