Policing

Increase to full authorized force (around 9,700)

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  Karen Bass

  The LAPD is down hundreds of officers from its authorized force of 9,700. As Mayor, I will return the LAPD to its full authorized force, and provide funding to the Personnel Department to aggressively recruit new officers who are invested in reform and accountability.

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  Kevin de León

  We can make sure our streets, sidewalks, and homes are secure by reaching the LAPD’s currently budgeted size of 9,706 officers. Los Angeles does not need to increase the size of its police force by tens of thousands of officers, as other candidates have proposed, costing taxpayers billions of dollars at a time families are already struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.

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  Craig Greiwe

  I believe that budgeting and adding new officers is a false choice... We need to start by focusing officers on police work, instead of asking them to show up to everything, and remove them from the homelessness response. Only then can we see how many officers we need.

Increase to 10,000 or more

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  Rick Caruso

  I will add 1,500 officers to our force before the end of my first term. My administration will apply for every federal and state grant there is and even demand more direct funding from the Biden administration and Governor Newsom to expand and strengthen our police force and ensure they are trained properly and engaged with the communities they serve.

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  Mel Wilson

  I will budget for hiring up to 11,000 public safety officers. That public safety core includes hiring 350 mental health experts, hiring community public safety ambassadors (youths and seniors).

Downsize

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  Gina Viola

  It should be downsized. Have you seen the response to a person having a mental health crisis? I've routinely witnessed as many as 10 vehicles with 20 officers and even a helicopter respond.

Keep the same

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  Alex Gruenenfelder

  I am satisfied with the current amount of LAPD officers, but we must demilitarize the police department and invest in other forms of crisis response.

Increase

• 

  Rick Caruso

  I will restore the LAPD’s budget and expand the number of patrol officers with more hiring, civilianization of non-essential sworn positions, and a commitment to more training and diversified recruitment.

• 

  Mel Wilson

  [The budget should] increase to accommodate 350 mental health experts and community public safety ambassadors.

Decrease

• 

  Alex Gruenenfelder

  We should reallocate a small amount of the LAPD's budget toward social services, mental healthcare and addiction treatment, and unarmed crisis response.

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  Gina Viola

  It should be decreased. This number [16% of city budget] is not inclusive of the LAPD's full budget number of $3.2 billion which is just less than half of the city's unrestricted budget. A budget of this size leaves nothing left to invest in the health and well being of our city in the form of youth development, community development, childcare, healthcare and job training.

Stay the same

• 

  Karen Bass

  I will immediately increase co-response and alternative response teams, like the new CIRCLE initiative, that include mental health, homeless outreach and other specialists who can respond to people in distress, freeing officers to focus on crime. That’s how we maintain the current spending.

• 

  Kevin de León

  Funding for the LAPD should stay the same.

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  Craig Greiwe

  We cannot defund the police, but no one knows how much funding they need. We need to put LAPD to work doing just police work, and see how much that costs. There are definitely cost savings we need to put in place that can bring the budget down, but we also need to fully fund the LAPD's work to keep our communities safe.

Yes

• 

  Karen Bass

  Los Angeles cannot arrest its way out of crime. It’s not law enforcement’s role to focus on the root causes of crime and violence – community organizations and trained experts can and should be given the resources to do just that. Prevention is better than cure.

• 

  Kevin de León

  There is no direct correlation between lower crime and higher numbers of officers, as noted by a number of studies. What is more important is how we use our officers. Our LAPD Reserves, for example, are an underutilized resource. Rather than having them direct traffic at the Staples Center, I want to position them in hot spots around the City as an increased deterrent for crime.

• 

  Craig Greiwe

  Yes. We need officers to live in the communities they serve, we need to implement the 2015 Community Oriented Policing Report, we need to fully fund a non-violent community engagement force focused on mental health, addiction, and other issues. We need to ensure that people who commit real crimes serve their time, and we need to focus on anti-recidivism efforts so those people don't commit crimes again.

• 

  Alex Gruenenfelder

  The LAPD has a role to play in reducing crime, but investments in anti-poverty programs, treatment for addiction and mental illness, and unarmed crisis response will reduce crime more over time.

• 

  Gina Viola

  Absolutely. Healthy, resourced communities are safe communities.

No

• 

  Rick Caruso

• 

  Mel Wilson

  No. Violent crimes are on the rise. People in every part of the city are asking for more public safety.

Yes

• 

  Karen Bass

  I have spent my adult life working on police reform, and will continue to do so if elected mayor – by focusing on how to safeguard our communities, preventing the conditions that lead to arrests, and rehabilitating people.

• 

  Rick Caruso

  Yes, racial profiling is a problem which is why I want to re-invest in community-based policing so our senior leads and police officers know their community.

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  Kevin de León

  It's time we had a real conversation about culture change in the LAPD – which starts with training practices in the Academy. As Mayor, I’ll work with the LAPD Chief to make sure every officer is trained to treat all Angelenos with dignity and respect.

• 

  Craig Greiwe

  The Obama Department of Justice put together a bipartisan 2015 Community Oriented Policing Solutions roadmap that showed how to bring crime down, build trust with communities, and bring more fairness to policing while eliminating bias — we should implement that plan wholesale.

• 

  Alex Gruenenfelder

  Racial profiling is a problem in Los Angeles, and we must crack down on and end LAPD use of racial profiling.

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  Gina Viola

  I believe that LAPD should be removed entirely from traffic stops.

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  Mel Wilson

  Hold cops accountable, hire community ambassadors to work with the department. Have communities directly part of community policing deployment.

No

No candidates selected this answer

Broadly aligns with my beliefs

• 

  Alex Gruenenfelder

• 

  Gina Viola

I disagree with some of his agenda

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  Karen Bass

  While I don’t agree with all of the District Attorney’s policies, I do not support the recall – even though his approach has failed to consider some critical elements of public safety. I fundamentally believe that we can have safety and justice at the same time.

• 

  Kevin de León

  While George Gascón and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, the recall process is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars, and should be reserved only for those accused of high crimes; not abused by the very wealthy to serve their own interests.

• 

  Mel Wilson

I think he should be recalled from office

• 

  Rick Caruso

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  Craig Greiwe

  I was the first candidate to call for his removal, as he is not fulfilling his constitutional duties. I believe criminal justice reform is needed, but his work is extreme and makes Angelenos more unsafe while creating a divisive environment.