'Woefully inadequate': Bass orders review of how LAPD deals with mentally ill people

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Set us as preferred Mayor Karen Bass called the training that LAPD officers receive for handling mental health calls “woefully inadequate” and ordered an outside review of the department’s policies Thursday, saying recent shootings highlight continued shortcomings in how police deal with people in crisis.Bass is particularly concerned by the relative lack of specialized intervention training for patrol officers who respond to the vast majority of service calls.While the SWAT team and other units receive such training, it is not standard across the Los Angeles Police Department.“After the academy, they have spot training that is essentially videos that are played at roll calls,” Bass said in an interview week with The Times.The mayor’s directive comes as she’s locked in a reelection fight with progressive challenger Nithya Raman, who, like Bass, has criticized the LAPD over shootings of mentally ill people.

“The ability of the city to respond to someone’s pleas for help is incredibly important in ensuring that we maintain the trust of the public,” Raman recently told The Times.“And right now, there is no alternative system besides LAPD to respond to many of the calls that are coming into 911 besides, of course, Fire Department calls.”Polling by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, shows Raman is favored by 39% of likely L.A.

voters, compared to 28% support for Bass — with 33% still undecided.California Councilmember Nithya Raman leads Mayor Karon Bass by double digits in the latest UC Berkeley/L.A.

Times poll.But there is a big caveat.LAPD officers have fired their weapons at people 16 times this year — down from 34 shootings in 2025, but recent incidents have highlighted how officers continue to turn to their guns when confronting individuals with ...