Nithya Raman was for LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell before she was against him

LAPD chief Jim McDonnell has done a good job by any reasonable measure, especially given the tough political circumstances.Yet Nithya Raman is vowing to fire him, if she’s elected.It’s one of the crazier pledges of a campaign that has already lost touch with reality.McDonnell took office in November 2024, after several years of upheaval in LA — the George Floyd riots, the crime wave, the vaccine mandates that decimated the force.

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McDonnell faced a new challenge in navigating the tension between City Hall and the White House, as President Donald Trump directed a surge in immigration enforcement to seal the border.As a “sanctuary” city in a “sanctuary” state, LA had decided not to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).The LAPD could not keep ICE out, but was restricted in how it could cooperate with the federal agency.One member of the City Council who had confidence in McDonnell was Nithya Raman.

She joined the majority in voting to approve Karen Bass’s appointment of the new chief, earning a rebuke from her own Democratic Socialists of America chapter.So how has McDonnell done?Crime is down — dramatically down — with the fewest homicides in LA since 1966.(For reference, that’s several years before the Manson murders.)It’s true that crime is down across the nation as well.

So maybe McDonnell doesn’t deserve all the credit. But he’s managed the tension between local and federal priorities very carefully. Raman complains that McDonnell has worked with ICE. Maybe he has, where necessary, to protect federal officials from rioters. But he’s also refused to allow the LAPD to become involved in immigration enforcement itself.McDonnell also pushed back against the Trump administration when...