Removing bad cops and supporting good officers isn’t an either-or proposition, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) can do both, Commanding Officer Ruby Flores said Saturday thanking the officers who participated in the “Defend the Police” protest at City Hall.
Police need support more than ever before, Flores wrote in a Twitter post:
“Thank you to those who came out to support #LAPD and law enforcement. It is a time in our history that we need this more than ever. We need to always identify and remove bad cops while SIMULTANEOUSLY lifting up and thanking the good cops. It’s not a one or the other. It’s BOTH.”
Approximately one hundred participants took part in the event decrying the City Council’s decision to cut $140 million from the LAPD’s budget – a move they say will be harm L.A.’s disadvanted communities the most, The Los Angeles Times reports:
“Officers say they are demoralized by the cuts, which will deliver a huge hit to overtime pay and hiring in the 10,000-member department, when they have worked hard to build ties with community members and are willing to risk their lives to keep people safe.
“’What I’m concerned about is that the neighborhoods that will pay the worst price are the most economically depressed neighborhoods,’ said Rusty Redican, an officer with the beach patrol in West L.A. and an 18-year LAPD veteran. ‘Ninety-five percent of the people in South L.A. are great people who just want to live their lives and not be preyed on by gang members and drug dealers.’”
Removing bad cops and supporting good officers isn’t an either-or proposition, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) can do both, Commanding Officer Ruby Flores said Saturday thanking the officers who participated in the “Defend the Police” protest at City Hall.
As RedState.com reports, police departments across the country have spoken out against protester-demanded budget cuts, but the LAPD took action with a protest of its own:
“Law enforcement agencies across the country have been arguing against the initiative to defund local police departments in major cities. But LA-based police officers have taken the resistance to the left’s campaign a step further.
“On Saturday, about 100 members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) held a demonstration in front of the city hall, calling on residents and leaders to ‘defend the police.’”