(CALMATTERS) -As Newsom decides whether to sign a package of bills that would reform California’s criminal justice system — such as by creating a process to yank badges from bad cops, offering greater access to police records and protecting protesters from rubber bullets — some of the cities that slashed law enforcement budgets in the wake of George Floyd’s murder now appear to be backtracking amid an uptick in homicides and violent crime.
On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a plan to crack down on organized retail theft by hiring more police investigators and community ambassadors and upgrading an online crime reporting system.
On Tuesday — a day after Oakland saw its 100th homicide of the year — the city council voted to fund a new police academy and to study adding another one next year.
Also Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council signed off a new law that limits protesters’ ability to gather outside private residences and forbids people from carrying certain items, such as knives and pepper spray, in city buildings.
Many protests are “completely out of control. … This is about protecting our family members, our children and our neighbors from aggressive, targeted protests at all hours of the day and the night.”
Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez