2 LA council members want social workers, not police, to respond to non-violent calls – By Elizabeth Chou (Daily News) / June 16 2020
LA city leaders plan to call for replacing police in certain non-violent situations, by instead sending out unarmed teams of medical professionals, homeless outreach workers and other trained social workers.
Councilman Herb Wesson announced the plans via Twitter Tuesday, a day after several council members met with activists from Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and other local groups who are pushing for the Los Angeles Police Department to be defunded. That meeting was broadcast online and over the city’s public channel.
Wesson said he is introducing a motion with Council President Nury Martinez that would call for a “systematic crisis-response plan to replace police presence in non-criminal situations with unarmed service providers including medical professionals, mental health workers, homeless outreach workers and others with specialized training.
Wesson said in that the responsibility had been handed to law enforcement groups “but, more often than not, in non-emergencies they may not be best equipped to safely handle the situation.
“These calls need to be directed to workers with specialized training who are better equipped to handle the situation,” he said.
Continue to article: https://www.dailynews.com/2020/06/16/2-la-council-members-want-social-workers-not-police-to-respond-to-non-violent-calls/
