Los Angeles Supervisors Pass Ballot Restricting Cash From Police

(Bloomberg) -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a ballot measure that seeks to fence off hundreds of millions of dollars in its budget from police and law enforcement and instead spend it on programs aimed at reducing incarceration.

The measure now goes to voters November 3. It would allocate at least 10% of the county’s unrestricted general fund revenue toward community investment programs and alternatives to prison.

If the measure passes with a majority vote, law enforcement agencies -- including the police department, courts, district attorney’s office and other carceral systems -- will be prohibited from accessing the funds. In the 2021 budget, the flexible cash portion of the budget totaled $4.96 billion, of which more than a quarter was allocated to those law enforcement agencies.

Money from the set aside, equal to about $496 million using the current budget, could be used for community-based youth development programs, job training, access to capital for minority-owned businesses, affordable housing, counseling and other health and human services. If passed, the change would be phased in by 2024.

Board member Kathryn Barger opposed the measure, arguing it would tie the board’s hands during the budget process. “This proposed charter amendment is not the appropriate way to budget,” she said.

The move comes as local governments across the U.S. grapple with the role, and financing of police in their communities. In July, the District of Columbia city council voted to cut funding for its police force against the wishes of Mayor Muriel Bowser, cutting nearly $10 million from the allocation Bowser proposed for the Metropolitan Police Department budget. Larger cities like New York and Los Angeles have also reallocated some funding from their police forces to other programs.

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