First, I want to give you an update on COVID-19.

Our COVID threat level remains at orange. Currently, we are not moving to red, and not closing any additional activities or businesses. We need to keep doing the small actions that will make a big difference. Please keep wearing a mask, washing your hands, physically distancing and not gathering with others.

I recently joined actor Anthony Anderson to share these important messages with Angelenos. Watch and share our new video.

And while we battle this deadly virus with everything we’ve got, our other work must continue — to deliver City services, to solve problems and support our communities through this challenging time, and to build a city for the future that is stronger than ever before.

We stand at an inflection point in our nation’s history — a moment when we have to redouble our work to end structural racism, advance civil rights, and deliver equity to every Angeleno. And we have to start by reimagining public safety in our city.

We don’t have to look far to see how we can meet that charge. As Monday’s L.A. Times editorial affirmed, “The LAPD’s Community Safety Partnership provides a model for the kind of policing ethos we need.”

Operating at 10 sites throughout the city, the Community Safety Partnership places LAPD officers on a five-year assignment in one place so they can develop relationships and really get to know the families they’re sworn to protect. That builds trust between officers and the communities they serve.

Now, we’re taking this strategy citywide. 

On Monday, I announced we’re creating the Community Safety Partnership Bureau in the LAPD — to integrate this training and curriculum and mentality across the department. 

The creation of this Bureau was accomplished at no additional cost to the City, and was budget neutral to the department. 

Last year, violent crime dropped for the second consecutive year and officer involved shootings declined to historic lows. Overall, our city is much safer than in earlier decades.

But we want everyone in our city to feel secure — not only in their neighborhoods, but in the presence of those in uniform.

Since we started CSP in four public housing developments in 2011 and expanded it to another six locations during my time in office, we have seen officers become fixtures in parks, on playgrounds, and on the way to school. We’ve seen crime fall and trust rise. That’s what makes a stronger city.

Our new CSP Bureau will be under the command of Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides, who played a key role in creating this program back in 2011 and who will lead this effort alongside a civilian commander. 

21st century policing 

This latest reform builds on LAPD’s leadership in 21st century law enforcement, rooted in greater accountability, transparency, and relationship-based policing.

LAPD was the first large police department in the country to use body cameras for all patrol officers and release those videos to the public.

It is also one of the largest departments in the country to train all of its officers on de-escalation, use of non-lethal force, and implicit bias.

But we must do more. On Thursday, our civilian Police Commission expanded on that record by adopting nation-leading reforms, including an independent review of LAPD’s response to the protests following the murder of George Floyd, a ban of the carotid restraint hold, discontinuing use of the CalGangs database, and revising LAPD’s Use of Force policy to require officers who intentionally point a firearm at a person to report such incidents.

Over the course of my time as Mayor, we’ve also tapped into other strategies and policies that focus on services first. We increased the area covered by our nationally-recognized Gang Reduction and Youth Development programs by 50 percent — a step that has reduced juvenile arrests, brought down gang-related violent crime, and placed the burden of youth outreach, prevention, and intervention where it belongs: not on the shoulders of law enforcement, but in the hands of community-based providers.

This is only the beginning, and we have a long way to travel on the road to a safer, fairer, more just Los Angeles. But I know we can get there by deepening trust and cooperation, by forging partnerships and personal relationships, by creating a city where communities co-own public safety alongside our police officers.

Together, we will push forward. We will uphold our promise of racial justice in every facet of our government. We will lead a city that serves the best interests and highest aspirations of every resident.

Peace, strength and love, Los Angeles.

Eric Garcetti
Your Mayor