Amidst strained salary negotiations and escalating crime rates, a Los Angeles Police Union official has advised officers to seek employment elsewhere. Jerretta Sandoz, Vice President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), expressed her discontent in a since-deleted Facebook post, criticizing the Los Angeles City Council for its stance towards law enforcement. She encouraged officers to find cities where their work is valued and acknowledged by city officials.
The LAPPL, representing approximately 9,000 officers, has been in negotiations with the city. This comes as the LAPD has experienced a significant loss of personnel, with approximately 1,000 officers leaving since 2019. Sandoz's comments reflect growing frustration within the department regarding treatment by city leaders.
Close up of a Los Angeles Police Officer Badge. (iStock)
LOS ANGELES, CA-JUNE 2, 2023: LAPD Chief of Police Michel Moore, left, and LAPD Captain Christopher Zine, to his immediate right, conduct a uniform inspection during the graduation ceremony for the Los Angeles Police Academy Class 12-2022 at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA-JUNE 2, 2023: LAPD Chief of Police Michel Moore delivers the commencement address to graduates of the Los Angeles Police Academy Class 12-2022, during a ceremony at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Sandoz clarified that her comments were directed at officers already contemplating leaving the LAPD. Police Commissioner Erroll Southers has expressed concern over the ongoing loss of officers, describing it as deeply discouraging.
The Los Angeles Police Department has lost roughly 1,000 officers since 2019, with many officers expressing frustration with their treatment by city leadership. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / File)
The situation unfolds against a backdrop of rising crime and a deepening homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass recently renewed a state of emergency declaration on homelessness, granting her expanded authority to address the issue. California, as a whole, grapples with a significant homeless population, with the state accounting for a substantial portion of the nation's homeless individuals.
Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an updated declaration of a state of emergency on homelessness last week. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / File)
