The Education Council overseeing the Los Angeles Unified School District voted on Tuesday to cut $ 25 million from the Los Angeles School Police Department and cut 133 jobs, a spokesman told CNN.
The money will go from the police agency to a Black Student Achievement Plan to empower community groups, improve student literacy and reduce “excessive identification of black students in suspensions, discipline and other measures,” according to the meeting’s agenda.
The council of the country’s second largest school district, with more than 600,000 students, also banned pepper spray against students, the spokesman said.
“We are taking an important step in the right direction to provide black students with vital investments in their success – with millions of dollars going to academic support, socio-emotional resources and a new approach to school climate and safety,” said the school. board member Nick Melvoin. “This action directed by students and the community should have taken place a long time ago.”
The police department’s budget cuts didn’t come as a surprise to the agency.
On a
statement after the vote, Chief Leslie Ramirez said: “From the beginning, the depth and importance of this action was obvious and today’s decision brings the realism of a future LASPD reform to our service delivery model.”
Several major school districts have eliminated or reduced police presence
The council announced that it would re-evaluate the role of the police on campuses in June, with the aim of making students “feel a respected part of their school community”.
Los Angeles joins cities like Oakland, Milwaukee and Denver that have reduced or removed police from public schools, a move driven by national demonstrations against police brutality after the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other black men and women in police hands.
Some activists for police reform say police officers end up “criminalizing” black and Latino students or punishing them disproportionately compared to students of other races.
Disturbing footage shows school police acting violently against students, such as when Orlando police were filmed arresting a 6-year-old girl after an apparent tantrum in 2019 or, in the same year, when North Carolina police were accused of hitting on children’s bodies and put them in a stranglehold.
