What Nithya Raman's election means for the future of the LAPD

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Set us as preferred The election of Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist, as the next mayor of Los Angeles promises to have a profound impact on the city’s police force — although perhaps not right away.Among the most important and widely watched decisions facing the city’s next mayor is about what to do with LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.Raman repeatedly said prior to her election that she would replace him as chief.Raman frequently criticized McDonnell throughout her campaign, particularly over how he handled the LAPD’s response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz last year.She has taken issue with the LAPD’s aggressive tactics under McDonnell toward demonstrators, which have included firing tear gas and less-lethal weapons into crowds, officers mounted on horseback swinging batons and accusations of journalists being targeted.

She has questioned whether the LAPD should continue to work closely with the Trump administration on non-immigration matters that require data-sharing, potentially affecting investigations into cargo theft and human trafficking, which involve local collaboration with federal law enforcement.The events of the last year, she said, have shattered public trust.In a since-deleted video with a progressive influencer that went viral, Raman said she would work to ensure the LAPD “is actually protecting people, instead of protecting ICE on our streets as we saw happen.”“I think that starts with a culture shift at the top and new leadership in the department.

I don’t believe that Chief McDonnell has met the moment,” she said in the video.California Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has criticized the LAPD for no longer releasing neighborhood crime statistics.

Others have taken issue with slow responses to public records requests.Chief Jim McDonnell, however, says the dep...