Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Vetos Police Reform Proposition; Council Upholds Veto

The Los Angeles City Council upheld Mayor Karen Bass’ veto of a ballot measure that would have expanded the LAPD Chief’s powers to include firing officers for misconduct, stopping it from reaching voters this November by a single vote.

The proposal, authored by Councilman Tim McOsker, was introduced earlier this year. According to the proposition proposal, the LAPD Chief would have been given the power to fire officers directly for misconduct, including those involved in physical abuse and assault, those who refuse to cooperate in an investigation, and other disciplinary levels of misconduct. In addition, officers would no longer have the option to have cases against them be reviewed exclusively by members of the public in favor of governmental review, as well as a new binding arbitration system for officers who appeal rulings.

Introduced in February, the City Council passed the proposition by a vote of 11-2 in June, sending it to the ballot in November. However, Mayor Bass vetoed the proposition last month, saying that it would only create “bureaucratic confusion” if passed by L.A. voters. The veto angered many in the city, including many Council supporters of the proposition, causing McOsker and others to bring it back to the Council to override her veto.

“Over the past few months, I’ve met with hundreds of LAPD officers about the future of the Los Angeles Police Department. Police officers shared their collective frustrations about the entire LAPD discipline system, arguing the need for a more fair and better-defined process,” said Bass in July. “Additionally, I’ve met with many city officials and community leaders who also want to work toward these shared goals.”

With the City Council still in summer recess, the matter didn’t get back to the Council until this week, with the County deadline of making it on the ballot falling next month. However, despite voting on the proposal in the first place, many switched their allegiance to the Mayor during the vote. The final vote to reverse the override came to a 9-5 vote this week, with 10 votes being needed to override Mayor Bass’ veto.

Veto override

Councilman McOsker once again expressed disappointment with the result, saying that “City leaders missed a window of opportunity to do a great deal of reform of the LAPD disciplinary system.”

Council members explained their change of vote on Wednesday, pointing out in particular that, with members of the public being more removed from the system and allowing officers to enter binding arbitration for appeals, the updated system, if passed, would be too lenient.

Following the vote, McOsker then tried to schedule in a discussion on the veto and possibly another override vote before the ballot deadline later this month. However, in a 7-7 vote, the Council once again voted against it.

“I don’t understand why the Council is so eager to sustain the veto on the first day we had the opportunity to do so, and without debate,” added McOsker. “We can’t be so afraid of losing our jobs that we don’t do our jobs.”

Law enforcement experts told the Globe on Thursday that they were not surprised with how the votes went.

“A lot of cities are still pretty skittish when it comes to any kind of reform that puts more power in the hands of the police, or could potentially go more in the officers favor,” explained Daniel Ortega, a former police union official, to the Globe on Thursday. “Memories of George Floyd still linger. And in LA, considering the history of the LAPD, it is more expected. But there were also more mild reforms. And Bass tried to make it sound that the process would be more unfair to police officers, and that she is clearly siding with a portion of public sentiment.”

“The thing is, the people should have decided on this matter. Bass and others were really worried that the average voter would see these as reasonable and that it would pass. They would not have done all this if they didn’t think it would pass, as a lot of police and crime ballot measures are very popular in California right now.”

“Bass and the others were afraid of the voters, pure and simple.”

It is currently unknown if McOsker or others will try to bring the proposal back up at a later date.