The Inglewood City Council is riding a high from the success of Super Bowl 56 and Taste of Inglewood that is quickly dissipating as contract negotiations ramp up with the police department.
Inglewood Police Department has less than 200 sworn officers which potentially places residents in jeopardy as we are moving in a direction that doesn’t allow for enough officers per resident.
Recent events in the City show an uptick in homicides, while also showing the community can come together in a safe manner.
IPD has lost close to two dozen officers since July 2020. Many retired due to the mayor’s initial insistence of weekly COVID testing and a now rescinded vaccination mandate. The recent departures are officers lateralling to outside agencies.
The attrition is not an anomaly as agencies across the nation saw an increase in retirements due to a combination of factors: COVID and scrutiny in how agencies police in a post George Floyd climate.
When Butts believed he had aspirations to run for Sheriff, he began a media campaign on the conservative Fox News channel, and in some instances, favored the public in police shootings, particularly in the case of Rayshard Brooks.
Both Mayor Butts and Councilman Alex Padilla were both sworn officers, and are both actively engaged in wooing the Inglewood Police Officers Association [publicly and privately] who will provide crucial endorsements for the upcoming November election.
Problem is their current contract expires in June.
We also can’t dismiss claims that the personnel feel alienated by their Chief, otherwise his personal vehicle wouldn’t have become part of the public debate.
Recruitment also appears to be suffering. The mayor said we would see “more police” once SoFi Stadium went online, and yes, we did see more police – Sheriff’s deputies and members of other agencies. Why are we only graduating one officer per class?
The Black College Expo was held Feb. 19, and many agencies were there “recruiting from the community”. I can’t recall seeing a booth from IPD.
IPD is offering a $10,000 bonus to lateral to Inglewood, but its unknown if that is a real “draw” to the City. Keep in mind how many left before Super Bowl.
The council has finally accepted $31 million in funds from the Biden Administration, however, crucial funding wasn’t realized when Measure I failed, which would have increased Real Estate Transfer Taxes to fund public safety.
Can the mayor afford to lose the union’s support during a time when many residents are calling for his resignation due to his continued hostile demeanor towards residents?
While Mayor Butts and Co. have achieved major victories, which should equate to more revenue for the City, it is instead being redirected towards mounting legal fees for lawsuits by Melanie McDade, Treasurer Wanda Brown, and the one that will prove most costly, the LAPD motor office and his wife.
They are seeking a combined $55 million for injuries sustained when Butts slammed an IPD registered vehicle into him.
The City will soon present its 1st quarter budget numbers for FY 2021-22 which should be in the coming weeks. It will give the best snapshot for how the union can negotiate and predict what the mid-year numbers will be come June.
I don’t know Mayor Butts. The ball is in your court.
3 Comments
Is there any way you can have pictures of IPD without Alex Padilla. I know he is a part of that union but the sight of him makes me gag and barf.
Fixed it!
Thank you for providing insight into how some of those campaign literature endorsements come about.
VOTERS Please oh please pay attention to how much is spent convincing you to vote for every person or item on a ballot and where that money comes from !!!!!
Ask yourself “will any of the endorsers be impacted in the same way residents are by the decisions made by the wanna be elected”…. aka The Governor, Mayors of other Cities, Congressional Representatives ..NONE will not be impacted by the ordinances laws or decisions made by Butts & Co.
Likewise since most Inglewood Police Officer’s do not live in Inglewood their political endorsement should not reflect anything other than their bargaining union’s hope for a raise.
When any person, company, or group which is dependent on the elected for their salary/benefit package, contract, permit, or rezoning endorses or spends money on a candidate election that should be a serious red flag and that endorsement written off as conflict of interest.
While most Inglewood residents believe we should be able to expect that we are protected or served by our police force that does take serious wishful thinking….especially on days when Kroenke’s pockets are being filled.
The once functional department under The James Butts administration seems to have devolved into a band of uniforms used to intimidate. For just one of many examples: when grieving family members of the reportedly unconscious young people fatally shot by IPD came to ask the City Council for answers. -Multiple officers, IN RIOT GEAR, were summoned to the council meeting by the FORMER SANTA MONICA CHIEF of POLICE now Mayor who trained officers in Santa Monica to VIOLATE the FEDERAL MIRANDA WARNING .
Using the officers to create an image of occupied force is not acceptable, anywhere.
About the proclaimed reduction of crime…., consider burglary victims have been told “even if the thief is found- prosecution will be unlikely, so call your insurance company.” Not writing a police report or substituting an “incident” report does not mean there was no crime committed- it means recording committed crimes is being reduced!!
There are many good officers within IPD, however let us consider the management of those officers- check out those overtime hours on “Transparent California”.
Clearly the dismissive behavior by James Butts toward the Police Chief during a press conference tells all who saw it that “THE CHIEF” has a title and a paycheck but has NO VOICE, NO AUTHORITY he remains under the thumb of his former training officer as if he is still just a trainee.
Butts response to why the Chief was not speaking was that Butts had been his training officer. What?
Wow, doesn’t that scream volumes? Butts acknowledges his own lack of training skills and now as both are near retirement age Butts can not see his some 25+ year ago trainee as having attained the skills for which that trainee has been awarded a title, significant salaries, and annual bonuses?
Could this explain why recruitment is a challenge?.
Perhaps the first point should be to remind Butts he is not the Commander of the Police Force !