Long before Los Angeles City Council candidate Isabel Jurado uttered the words “F— the police,” she made it clear she wasn’t satisfied with the city’s approach to public safety.
In last year’s candidate survey, Jurado pledged to shift funding from the LAPD to other programs. She said police should be removed from K-12 schools. And she described herself as an “abolitionist,” someone who supports “abolition of the police and prison industrial complex.”
“I believe we are keeping ourselves safe,” she wrote in a 20-page survey she provided to the Democratic Socialists of America, now one of her most important supporters.
Tuesday’s election pushes City Hall even further to the left on security, with Jurado and his allies expanding the bloc of city council members who want to rein in police spending and reallocate savings. It is up to you to decide whether you can do it or not.
Jurado, a tenant rights attorney, is seeking to unseat City Councilman Kevin de Leon in the East Side district. Another DSA-backed candidate, business owner Jillian Burgos, is seeking a seat in the San Fernando Valley.
In both elections, police abolition and overall law enforcement spending have emerged as political fault lines, especially for voters concerned about crime and disorder.
Through a spokesperson, Jurado said repeal is an aspirational goal that will take many years and many steps. Mr. de Leon insists that Mr. Jurado’s words should be taken literally and seriously by voters in his district, which stretches from downtown to El Sereno and Eagle Rock.
Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon (pictured in 2023) sent a campaign email attacking his opponents’ stance on public safety.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
De Leon, who highlighted the issue in a campaign email, called Jurado’s approach to security “elitist and irresponsible” and said low-income neighborhoods would suffer the most. Jurado stepped up his attacks last week after he told a group of college students, “What is rap poetry?” F— Police, that’s what I think,” he said in response to a question about abolishing the police.
“We need police to keep our communities safe. It’s that simple,” De Leon said. “Every country in the world has a police force, including the most progressive countries like the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Finland and Norway.”
Jurado spoke out against the idea of defunding the Los Angeles Police Department, telling the audience that he still wants officers to respond to violent crimes. At the same time, she argued that too much is being spent on police departments, with a quarter of the city’s money going to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“The safest cities in America invest in recreation, parks, libraries and youth, and we don’t,” she says.
Three of the city council’s 15 members voted against Mayor Karen Bass’ budget this year, primarily because of their opposition to police spending. If Jurado and Burgos are elected, the bloc could receive two more votes.
Adlin Nazarian, a former state lawmaker who opposes Mr. de León and Mr. Burgos, supports Mr. Bass’ push to increase the number of police officers and restore the department to 9,500 officers. Both agree with the mayor’s decision to give police raises and bonuses in one package, which is expected to add $400 million to the city’s annual budget by 2027.
Jurado opposes both efforts. So does Burgos, an optician and co-owner of a murder mystery theater company. The same day the City Council approved the police raise, Burgos accused city leaders of choosing “militarization” over humanity, saying the money should have gone toward housing and community services instead. .
“Crime is down across the board,” she said in an interview. “I think we can invest in other solutions.”
Like Jurado, Burgos identified himself as an abolitionist in the DSA survey. Like Jurado, she also told DSA that she would remove police officers from K-12 schools. They argued that the police union should not join the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents about 300 union groups and is a major component of city government.
Los Angeles City Council candidate Jillian Burgos (pictured in January) opposes the mayor’s efforts to increase the number of police officers and bring the LAPD back to 9,500 officers.
(Michael Blacksher/Los Angeles Times)
The LA chapter of DSA has become a powerful political force, pushing city leaders to strengthen tenant protections, raise wages and cut law enforcement spending. Over the past four years, the group has successfully unseated three sitting City Hall members.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles branch said it is a key supporter of Burgos and has sent 167 people to knock on doors for Burgos. Nearly 330 DSA volunteers carried out similar operations in Jurado, a spokesperson said.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file police officers, is trying to counter those efforts with a campaign email calling Burgos’ public safety platform “dangerous.” The union allocated $445,000 for recruitment efforts, digital advertising and other efforts to defeat Jurado and re-elect de Leon.
“MS. Jurado said [voters] “If she wins, it will make a clear case for ‘police,’ and that means fewer police officers patrolling neighborhoods and enforcing the law,” Police Protective League President Craig Lally said in a statement.
The two City Council contests come as the number of sworn officers in the Los Angeles Police Department has declined by about 12% over the past five years to about 8,800, the lowest level since 2002. Bass and the City Council have been trying to reverse the situation with raises, higher starting salaries and better benefits. Retention bonus.
These measures are expected to significantly strain the city’s budget, adding an estimated $1 billion in costs over four years. As city leaders struggle to make ends meet, many other city agencies have also been forced to cut jobs, leave positions vacant or eliminate them altogether.
Despite the smaller Los Angeles Police Department, homicides in the city are down 29% this year compared to the same period in 2022. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the number of shooting victims has decreased by 27%.
Jennifer Macias, co-chair of DSA’s Los Angeles chapter, said the organization added questions about abolition to candidate surveys after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She said the question was an important part of the approval process and “integral” to the group’s values.
Macias, who lives in Jefferson Park, said the city needs a way to respond to emergencies without involving the “systematically violent” police force. She said the idea of police abolition, or reducing the number of police officers to zero, is a “north star goal” that will only be achieved over time once other programs are implemented.
“Just because the police aren’t there doesn’t mean they aren’t responding,” she said.
Burgos said that for her, repeal means moving away from “reactive” law enforcement responses and expanding social services such as job training, placements and mental health care.
“It’s all about community care and that’s my purpose,” the North Hollywood resident said.
Nazarian, like the other three candidates, said he wants to expand the city’s network of unarmed responders to help people facing nonviolent mental health crises. At the same time, he strongly condemned the idea of police abolition, saying there was “nothing progressive” about it.
“The rich and upper class are going to find a way. They’re going to hire their own security,” said the North Hollywood resident. “What is left is the vast majority of the population, the middle class and the poorer working class, who have to fend for themselves.”
Los Angeles City Council candidate Adlin Nazarian said there is “nothing progressive” about the concept of police abolition.
(Michael Blacksher/Los Angeles Times)
Nazarian, whose family fled Iran when he was eight years old, said police are needed because there will always be people willing to victimize others.
Jurado said she has never used the phrase “defund” when referring to the Los Angeles Police Department. “F–the police,” she said at an event at California State University in Los Angeles, adding that police should focus on gangs, violent crime and “drugs that are infiltrating our communities.” did.
Jurado said in an interview that it remains to be seen whether she will regularly vote against LAPD spending proposals that come before the City Council, like one of her closest allies, Councilwoman Eunice Hernandez. said.
“We’re checking the boxes” on the survey, Jurado said. “But at the end of the day, we use our best judgment.”
Last week, Jurado dismissed criticism of her “F, Police” comment, insisting it was “just a lyric” in a rap song. She called attack ads from the police union “noise.”
Los Angeles City Council candidate Isabel Jurado said the police union’s attacks on her campaign are just “noise.”
(Michael Blacksher/Los Angeles Times)
If recent Los Angeles elections are any guide, Highland Park residents have reason to be confident.
Hernandez, who represents parts of the East Side and identifies himself as an abolitionist, defeated two-term incumbent Gil Cedillo in 2022. She won despite police unions sending out mailers warning that her policies would lead to the release of rapists and violent criminals.
City Councilman Hugo Sotomartínez also identified himself as an abolitionist in a DSA survey while running for office in 2022. He defeated incumbent Mitch O’Farrell by a wide margin.
“Abolition is dismissed as an intimidation tactic and a way to divide people,” he says. “But many abolitionists believe that the way to eradicate crime and stop crime is to put resources into families and communities, which will ultimately lead to a society that doesn’t need police officers. I believe it connects. It’s very utopian when you think about it.”
Sotomartinez noted that de León courted the Democratic Socialists in an effort to oust Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018, when she was a state representative. Mr. de Leon’s DSA candidate survey did not include a question about abolishing the police, but he supported abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that polices the border.
Recently, de Leon has criticized Jurado as a “handpicked” DSA candidate and her public safety views as “too dangerous” for Los Angeles. This shows de León is a “hypocrite,” Sotomartinez said.
In response, de Leon said this year’s DSA is “different from Bernie Sanders’ DSA in 2016 or 2018.” He said police abolition is just one area in which the group has become too extreme.
Mr. De Leon, who lives in Eagle Rock, has been at odds with Mr. Hernandez and Mr. SotoMartinez over the theft of copper wire, which has left many streets in darkness, including the newly built Sixth Avenue Bridge. Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Sotomartinez were the only votes against Mr. de León’s plan to create a task force to combat such thefts.
Last summer, Mr. de Leon credited the task force with arresting 82 people and recovering 2,000 pounds of copper.
Mr. de León’s approach to public safety resonates with at least some voters. Last week, dozens of people gathered in Highland Park to condemn Jurado’s use of the F-word and show support for the LAPD.
“In this crazy world we live in, we need to fund the police, not the police,” said El Sereno resident Eddie Santillan.
Times staff writer Libor Jany contributed to this report.
