The Los Angeles Metropolis Council on Friday confirmed Jim McDonnell as the town’s 59th police chief in a break up 11-2 vote, and he was later formally sworn in in entrance of a crowded room of metropolis leaders.
Whereas a number of council members praised Mayor Karen Bass’ collection of a revered and skilled lawman to guide the division, the dearth of unanimous approval underscored lingering issues round McDonnell’s file on immigration as president-elect Donald Trump returns to workplace.
McDonnell, who has made few public appearances since his appointment, delivered his strongest feedback but about making certain that the division wouldn’t take part in federal immigration enforcement.
“LAPD will not assist with mass deportations. Los Angeles is a city of immigrants and I know that immigrants are being disparaged right now,” McDonnell advised the council, hanging a extra decisive tone than he did in answering a number of the similar questions at a earlier committee listening to. “My job is to protect everyone in Los Angeles and to build trust and that’s what I plan to do.”
After the brand new chief’s non-public swearing in, Bass stated she “was so appreciative of the way he handled everything.”
“He heard everything people said. And to me, that is just emblematic of the type of chief he will be,” she stated. A public swearing-in ceremony is predicted to be held subsequent week.
Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martínez forged votes in opposition to McDonnell, with Kevin de León and Heather Hutt absent.
In response to a query about how he’ll be sure that all officers beneath his command will adjust to the division’s immigration guidelines, McDonnell stated, “It’s very clear what our policies are.”
“Accountability is basically the foundation of trust, and we are accountable to the rule of law and to the policies of this organization,” he stated.
When requested a few hypothetical situation wherein LAPD officers had detained somebody at the back of a police automobile and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers requested handy them over, McDonnell replied his officers wouldn’t comply.
A lot of the opposition has centered on McDonnell’s previous willingness to permit immigration authorities into the nation’s largest jail system, which he did whereas serving as L.A. County sheriff from 2014 to 2018. Allowing federal brokers to focus on inmates for deportation, critics say, led to the pressured separation of “thousands of families.”
McDonnell stated he had developed within the 10 years since he was sheriff, however argued that his file was misunderstood. He pointed to statistics displaying that the variety of incarcerated folks launched to immigration authorities fell to 820 within the final 12 months of his tenure, from the greater than 7,800 in 2013, the 12 months earlier than his election. The variety of U-Visas, which give protections to immigrants who’re victims of crimes, sponsored by the division additionally climbed throughout his tenure.
The council’s break up vote on the LAPD chief was uncommon. McDonnell’s two quick predecessors, Michel Moore and Charlie Beck, had been every confirmed unanimously.
Soto-Martínez stated in an interview earlier than the vote that he would stick together with his “no” vote from final week’s public security committee assembly, the place he grilled McDonnell on his file on immigration and his views on visitors enforcement.
Soto-Martínez, whose district stretches from Echo Park to Hollywood, stated he remained involved concerning the new chief’s “history at the county working with ICE and expanding some of his policies.”
“I don’t have any questions today, but I’m voting no,” he stated.
The council additionally authorised McDonnell’s $450,000 yearly wage. It was lowered from the preliminary wage proposal of $507,509, which spurred criticism with the town going through monetary straits.
Whereas McDonnell was earlier than the Metropolis Council, a number of hundred activists gathered for a rally Friday morning in entrance of Metropolis Corridor, calling for a brand new “sanctuary city” legislation that may bar metropolis personnel and sources from being utilized in federal immigration enforcement.
Many clutched indicators studying “Trump out of LAPD” and “McDonnell is anti-immigrant,” whereas a band performed cumbia and banda music from the again of a flatbed truck.
“Sheriff McDonnell does not deserve and does not have the trust of the community he is sworn to protect,” Pablo Alvarado of the Nationwide Day Laborer Organizing Community stated in a press release.
The council vote on McDonnell was preceded by a fiery public remark interval, which featured about 85 audio system break up between supporters and detractors.
One speaker stated she feared for the protection of youngsters in her West Aspect neighborhood and stated she supported McDonnell, who she believed “will help restore peace, safety and calm to our city.”
Like others who supported McDonnell, her feedback had been met by a smattering of each applause and jeers.
Andrés Dae Keun Kwon, a senior coverage counsel on the American Civil Liberties Union, stated “thousands of families” had been separated because of the Sheriff Division’s cozy relationship with federal immigration authorities.
Pastor Stephen Cue Jn-Marie, founding father of Creating Justice LA, referred to as McDonnell’s appointment “a spit in our face,” after he was voted out of workplace by L.A. County residents after one time period as sheriff. “You want to pay this man $500,000 a year, and we’re in a budget deficit?”
Some Latino institution group and political figures expressed disappointment that Bass didn’t choose Robert “Bobby” Arcos, a former LAPD assistant chief who would have been the primary Latino chief within the division’s lengthy historical past. In an inventory of finalists introduced to Bass by the Police Fee, McDonnell was ranked third behind Arcos and Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides, who’s Black.
At a information convention after his affirmation, McDonnell addressed questions on whether or not he’d cooperate with Trump’s deportation efforts.
“Any talk of mass roundups or the Police Department being involved in that thing — we don’t do that kind of thing,” McDonnell stated. “We would alienate much of our population, much of our community, by doing anything like that. So it would make no sense for us to do that.”
The brand new chief added, “We’re here to keep everybody safe in all communities throughout our city, and the way we do that is by nurturing trust.”
Occasions employees author Dakota Smith contributed to this report.
