Peak hypocrisy? LA Councilwoman criticized for LAPD security detail after filing motion to defund police

Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez has found herself in hot water for filing a motion that seeks to cut millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Police Department’s funding – all while having a security detail from the LAPD stationed right outside her home.

“The Los Angeles Police Department deployed a patrol unit to the home of Nury Martinez following a series of protests, in which Ms Martinez was concerned about her safety,” a spokeswoman for the LAPD confirmed to The Epoch Times in an email.

According to the LAPD spokeswoman, the Los Angeles Chief of Police made the decision to give Martinez and her family protection via security detail after Martinez and her daughter allegedly received death threats.

This was confirmed by Rick Coca, Martinez’s spokesman, in an exchange with Spectrum News.

Coca, in an email, said that the LAPD recommended placing a security detail unit at Martinez’s home as it was allegedly the best course of action to ensure the safety of the Council President and her family.

The security detail from the LAPD, which was usually composed of two officers, was stationed outside Martinez’s residence for two months. This allegedly cost the city at least USD 100,000.

According to a story run by Spectrum, the units assigned to Martinez were directed to provide round-the-clock security at the council president’s home, starting April 4th. The security detail’s hours, however, were cut roughly a month later, with the police officers only standing guard from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“It’s kind of ironic. Here she is demanding USD 150 million be reallocated from the police budget, but yet she has security at her house by the Los Angeles Police Department,” Jamie McBride, who serves as director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), said in a statement.

McBride was referring to a recent motion put forth by Martinez and other Los Angeles council members Herb Wesson, Curren Price and Monica Rodriguez, that seeks to cut funding to the LAPD as a response to the wave of protests over racial injustice and alleged police brutality that are happening across the country. (Related: Democratic mayors are seriously considering DEFUNDING police departments amid persisting riots.)

“We need a vision for our city that says ‘there is going to be justice.’ American society is founded on a racial hierarchy, one that is born out of slavery, followed by Jim Crow segregation and corporate abuse of labor,” the council’s motion, which was also published on Martinez’s public Twitter account, said, with the next couple of sentences seemingly parroting Left-wing propaganda regarding the country’s police departments.

“Police departments are asked to enforce a system of laws that are designed to reinforce and maintain economic and racial inequality,” the motion read.

Today we intrdcd a motion to cut funding to the LAPD, as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & the #BlackLivesMatter call that we all support to end racism. This is just one small step. We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change. pic.twitter.com/hR1tBAqwHP

— Nury Martinez (@CD6Nury) June 3, 2020

As reported by CBS Local, while the proposed cuts by the council would amount to a relatively small fraction of the overall LAPD budget of USD 3.1 billion, the motion still was not received warmly by the officers.

“Instead of reaching out to the Command Officers Association as many council members have done in the past to address concerns or advise of their pending actions and allow for the opportunity to come together as professionals to discuss issues, Council Member Martinez simply tweeted their intentions,” the LAPPL, which also functions as the police force’s union in the city, said in a statement.

In addition to the council’s proposed cut, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, also agreed to redirect a total of USD 250 million from the department as well as the city’s other programs toward causes such as youth jobs, health initiatives and so-called “peace centers” for the black community.

Martinez’s security detail, according to her spokesman, has been canceled.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

SpectrumNews1.com

LosAngeles.CBSLocal.com

DailyMail.co.uk