(PatriotWise.com) — In a now-deleted Facebook post, the vice president of one of the LAPD police unions told officers leaving the LAPD to find a place that would respect the work they do, The Los Angeles Times reported.
In the Facebook post, written just weeks before the LAPD’s contract expired on June 30, Jeretta Sandoz, the vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League laid out what she viewed as the hardships faced by LAPD officers, including City Council members who openly hate them, the ban on displaying the Thin Blue Line flag, and the lack of a contract.
She urged LAPD officers to “go somewhere that respects the work you do” where officers “don’t have to beg for a great contract” and encouraged officers to find a city in which city councilors don’t “hate you” but acknowledge “the great work you do.”
Last week, officials with the LAPD told the Board of Police Commissioners that there is a growing trend of officers leaving the LAPD for other law enforcement agencies, a trend Police Commissioner Erroll Southers described as “very, very discouraging.” In the last fiscal year, there were 43 departures, up from only 12 departures during FY2018.
In her proposed budget, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass calls for increasing the LAPD to 9,500 officers. However, the last ten graduating Police Academy classes have averaged only 30 officers, far below the numbers needed to meet the mayor’s goal.
When asked about Sandoz’s Facebook message, a spokesman for the mayor’s office said contract negotiations with the LAPD are ongoing.
Spokesman Zach Seidl told the Los Angeles Times that the mayor’s number one job is keeping Angelenos safe and her budget reflects the mayor’s concern about the number of retiring officers.
Sandoz downplayed her Facebook message, telling the Los Angeles Times that it is “much ado about nothing.” She said the comments were “part of a larger online thread” about the LAPD officers who have already said they were leaving.
Sandoz added that she stands by every word.
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