UCLA professor offers perspective on changes in budget, training needed within the LAPD
UCLA professor Isaac Bryan says real changes need to be made in the LAPD, both in the training of officers and the amount of money the city allots to the budget.
As unrest continues over the death of George Floyd, UCLA professor Isaac Bryan, the director of the UCLA Black Policy project, joined ABC7 via Skype to offer his perspective on changes he feels need to be made with law enforcement; specifically the LAPD.
"We're past the point of just implementing different kinds of training. We need to talk about the fact that over 50% of our discretionary budget goes to the LAPD," said Bryan. "We need to get that number under 50% and we need to think critically about the 16,000 city workers who are being furloughed and asked to take a pay cut at the same time the LAPD was set to get an increase in their budget."
Bryan said Mayor Eric Garcetti has called for up to $150 million to come out of the city's budget, which would be reinvested in communities of color, specifically black communities. Bryan does not think that amount is enough.
"Especially with the fact the LAPD budgets for civil rights violations every year, they budget for police brutality lawsuits. I don't think that's something we should be budgeting for," said Bryan. "I think it's something the department should have to deal with if they have those kinds of incidences."
Bryan added: "If you're betting on the fact the LAPD might not kill an unarmed citizen, particularly an unarmed black person, but you're also banking on the rest of the country not to have an incident like that, I think you're betting on the wrong side of history."
Watch the full interview in the video above.
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