Restore Public Safety Details

“My cousin is a police officer in Northern California. We sometimes disagree on politics, but I tell you what: I always listen to his opinions because he is out there, working hard and doing his best, every day. I respect him with every fiber of my being, just like I respect the dedicated men and women who risk their lives every day to keep the rest of us safe here in LA.” – Traci Park

Law Enforcement

The vast majority of people on the Westside appreciate and support our law enforcement partners. We all want our police to be sensitive to the needs of our diverse communities across Los Angeles and to follow constitutionally-based best practices. We can, and will, continue working for improvement in those areas. However, Traci unequivocally opposes efforts to defund and abolish law enforcement – a reckless approach to addressing the need for criminal justice reform.

When Los Angeles defunded the LAPD by $150 million in 2020, we lost over 800 police officers – which resulted in higher crime, longer response times, and a massive overtime bill for taxpayers to fund.

The entire community public safety sector has rallied behind Traci’s campaign because they trust she is the right leader to restore safety in our District. She is proud to be endorsed by the brave women and men who serve as frontline police officers, Park Rangers, sheriff’s deputies, highway patrol, and even our local Deputy District Attorneys.

As part of her public safety plan, Traci will:

• Restore a collaborative relationship with law enforcement. The relationship between the CD11 council office and police reached all-time lows over the last decade. Traci will restore the trust and collaborative partnership we need with local police to keep our families, businesses, and neighborhoods safe.
• Increase the number of police in our neighborhoods. Traci will work to promptly restore staffing at LAPD to a minimum of 10,000 sworn officers, with a sustained focus on recruitment and retention to grow their ranks over time. She will work with the LAPD to find ways to move more officers out of desk jobs and into the field where they are needed most, including dedicated beach patrols in CD11.
• Expand community policing. Different communities in Los Angeles have different needs and relationships with police, and each should have a say in the public safety programs most important to them. Community-based policing, the Community Safety Partnership, and the Senior Lead Officer programs build trust and partnerships to enable law enforcement to work closely with community organizations and neighborhood leaders. Traci will help increase focus on crime prevention, gang intervention, and youth and after school programs.
• Expand Park Ranger staffing. Traci will also work to increase the number of Park Rangers needed to patrol our City’s 430 public parks to keep our recreational spaces safe for everyone. Places like Ocean Front Walk, Westchester Park, Potrero Canyon Park, and our dry hillsides and canyons need a sustained Park Ranger presence.
• Partner with mental health professionals and social workers. Our police officers have been saddled with responding to increased calls for mental health and intoxication disturbances. Traci will work to expand programs and partnerships between police and mental health professionals and social workers, including LAPD’s Mental Evaluation Unit, to offer alternate approaches to calls related to mental illness and addiction.
• Elevate hate crime prevention and enforcement. Anti-Semitic, anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ crimes have increased at an alarming rate. There is no place in CD11 or Los Angeles for this kind of behavior. Traci will fight to hold perpetrators accountable, including hate crime enhancements, education campaigns, expanded reporting procedures for victims, and closer ties between law enforcement and vulnerable communities.
• Get meth and fentanyl off our streets. We all see what the proliferation of synthetic street drugs has done to our communities. These drugs are making people sicker and more addicted faster than anything we’ve seen before. Fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death for the unhoused population, and it is now spreading into our local schools. While we cannot, and should not, criminalize the status of addiction, we can, and must, go after those who manufacture and distribute this poison.
• Address the crisis of gun violence. Gun-related crime and violence has skyrocketed across our City. Traci will work with law enforcement to crack down on the illegal sale and manufacturing of ghost guns, monitor gun sales, disarm domestic abusers, expand access to gun violence restraining orders and education on California’s Red Flag laws, ensure the Armed Prohibited Persons Database is accurate and updated, improve responsible gun storage laws, and expand the LAPD Gun Unit. Traci is proud to be a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense candidate!
• Fight property crime. Every day, thousands of Angelenos and businesses are the victims of property crimes: from stolen packages and bikes to widespread retail theft. Between January 1 and September 3, 2021, there were 911 reported armed robberies and burglaries, just out of Pacific Division. Traci will increase foot and bike patrols, partner with our Business Improvement Districts, and work to create a small business recovery fund to help businesses recover from smash and grab crimes.
• Support victims. Through her partnerships with police and our local prosecutors, Traci will work to ensure that the needs of crime victims are centered in policy-making. She will work to create a local Crime Victims Fund to supplement State resources to compensate and help victims recover from the trauma and financial losses caused by rampant crime, dedicate staff in the Council office to assist victims, and work with the District Attorney’s Victims Support Unit to ensure victims have the support and resources they need.
• Address the links between crime, mental health, addiction, and homelessness. There is no question that the unhoused and those suffering from mental health and addiction are more likely to be victims of crimes and are more likely to commit crimes. We must invest in social services, like addiction recovery focused housing, behavioral health, and diversion programs, reform Prop 47, restore LAPD’s Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement Team, and implement the State’s CARE court plan in Los Angeles immediately.
• End human trafficking and sex crimes. The statistics on rape and other sex crimes are jarring, even though these crimes are highly under-reported. Women living on the streets are particularly vulnerable. Every woman in Los Angeles should feel, and actually be, safe in our communities. Traci will fight to restore resources for LAPD’s Human Trafficking & Sexual Assault Task Force to fight trafficking of all kinds.
• Ensure law enforcement has the resources and tools to do the job. Traci will work closely with our public safety partners to ensure they have the needed funding, staffing, tools, and technology to do their jobs safely and efficiently.

Fire Safety And Supporting First Responders

First responders at LAFD have not increased staffing levels in decades, but calls for service have skyrocketed in recent years. In addition to being on the frontline of the pandemic and fighting fires, our partners at LAFD deal every day with medical, overdose, and other calls that are straining resources.

Traci is proud to have earned the endorsements of our LA City and County firefighters, paramedics, and lifeguards, as well as the support of our neighboring cities’ safety partners, including Santa Monica, Culver City, and El Segundo. She will always fight to ensure our local first responders have the funding, staffing, and resources they need to keep our communities safe and healthy.

As part of her public safety plan, Traci will:

• Expand staffing and resources at LAFD. We have far too few firefighters and paramedics for a City the size of Los Angeles. On high fire hazard days, we need to pre-deploy resources to ensure our community remains safe. Traci will fight to ensure that the Fire Department’s budgeting and staffing priorities are met.
• Protect our hillside and canyon communities. With increased threats from drought and wildfires, Traci will work to restrict unsafe over-development in our high fire risk areas, implement fire fuel mitigation strategies including increased staffing for LAFD’s wildland fuel management team, conduct fire safety education and evacuation drills, and work with LA City and LA County Fire Departments to study and improve emergency evacuation routes.
• Invest in technology to mitigate fire risks. We must ensure that LAFD can afford to purchase – and implement – fire protection technology like ridge-side cameras, thermo-imaging, drones, communication systems, and other predictive tools that will help prevent emergencies and allow for safer, more efficient responses when emergencies do happen.
• Invest in Fire Department facilities and equipment. For too long, our City has failed to invest in Fire Department facilities. We’ve only seen one new fire station on the Westside in decades, and many are in need of maintenance and repair. Traci will prioritize funding to reopen and build new stations, add engines and ambulances, and bring innovative tools to the department, like small response vehicles. Traci will also work to ensure better cooperation between General Services and LAFD to ensure firefighters have access to the machinery and equipment needed for brush clearance and fire fuel mitigation efforts, and work with the Supply & Maintenance Division to ensure all needs are met.
• Strictly ban and enforce no camping in high fire risk and environmentally sensitive areas. From the Pacific Palisades to the Ballona Wetlands, encampment fires regularly endanger our sensitive environmental areas and threaten lives, infrastructure, and natural resources. Traci will seek to expand our 41.18 no camping ordinance and strictly enforce it in these areas.
• Scale and implement innovative programs for better flexibility. Traci will work to expand the Advanced Provider Response Unit that pairs a firefighter/paramedic with a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant to provide medical care onsite, the Sobriety Emergency Response Unit, and the Fast Response Vehicle program to give our first responders more flexibility and efficiency.
• Establish local partnerships with LAFD. Traci will have staff in the Council office dedicated to addressing community fire concerns and partnering with LAFD to ensure that our communities are prepared and safe in any emergency.