The LAPD is investigating whether hundreds of its officers staged a mass sick-out over the July 4 weekend as retribution for hefty budget...
The LAPD is investigating whether hundreds of its officers staged a mass sick-out over the July 4 weekend as retribution for hefty budget cuts.
More than 300 cops were unable to work, with many suspecting the unusually high number was due to a 'blue flu' - a slang term for a deliberate strike held by law enforcement officers. The LAPD currently employs 10,000 officers and 3,000 administrative staff.
The investigation comes less than a week after the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut the LAPD's budget by $150 million. The move - which will affect overtime pay and reduce the number of employees to the lowest level in 12 years - has sparked widespread outrage among rank-and-file members of the department.
According to The Los Angeles Times, an unsigned letter penned by irate cops was circulating prior to the July 4 weekend, which appeared to encourage officers to participate in a sick-out.
'They succeeded in defunding the police; what do you think is next? Our pay? Our benefits? Our pensions? You're God Damn right all those things are in jeopardy now,' the letter states.
'We have to send the city a clear message that we are not expendable and we are not going to take this crap anymore.'
The LAPD is investigating whether hundreds of its officers staged a mass sick-out over the July 4 weekend as retribution for hefty budget cuts. LAPD cops are seen during Black Lives Matter demonstrations back in May
It is illegal under California state law for officers to go on strike because of the danger it poses to public safety.
The Times reports that 'an unusually high number of homicides and shootings' occurred throughout Los Angeles over the July 4 weekend.
The paper also quotes sources who say 'in certain anti-gang units, everyone or nearly everyone called in sick at once'.
However, LAPD Chief Michel Moore says the surging number of coronavirus cases in LA County could account for the large number of sick officers.
323 of the 13,000 LAPD employees have tested positive for COVID-19, with another 231 awaiting results. Another 160 officers are in quarantine.
'We want to find the facts out before we start making sweeping judgments,' Moore told the Times.
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut the LAPD's budget by $150 million following larges scale protests calling for police departments to be defunded
Cop cars have been burnt and vandalized during anti-police protests that have taken place in the city across the past six weeks. Demonstrators across the country are calling for police departments to be reformed, defunded or abolished followed the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minnesota
Civil rights activist Najee Ali says officer absence has not gone unnoticed in poorer LA communities.
'It highlights the lack of character and integrity of those who are supposed to serve the community. They are the ones jeopardizing public safety,' he stated.
Anti-police sentiment has been growing across the country in the past six weeks, following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd.
Protesters have been calling for police departments to be defunded, with the situation in Los Angeles mirrored in other cities across the county.
New York City's police budget has been slashed by a billion dollars and the police department in Minneapolis has been abolished by its city council.
There were also reports in both the Big Apple and Atlanta that cops were planning a 'blue flu' sick-out on the July 4 weekend - however, those claims were not substantiated.
As anti-police protests continue, violent crime in major cities has exploded - with a particularly deadly July 4 weekend.
65 people were shot in New York, 87 were shot in Chicago and 31 were shot in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles activists were not satisfied with last week's $150 million cut to the LAPD budget - despite the fact it would shrink the number of officers to just 9,757 by next summer - a number unseen since 2008.
'It's a slap in the face. You need to defund the police, take way more money, put way more money into these programs,' Black Lives Matter activist Rebecca Kessler told The Los Angeles Times.
In Los Angeles activists were not satisfied with last week's $150 million cut to the LAPD budget - despite the fact it would shrink the number of officers to just 9,757 by next summer - a number unseen since 2008
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