Los Angeles radical defund the police lawmaker Eunisses Hernandez defund is attempting to seize control of the LAPD’s budget.
Cop-hating councilors Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez want to strip key auditing and accounting functions from the LAPD and hand them to the city’s socialist controller, in a move that would reshape the narrative on the police spending.
The move follows Hernandez voting against the City Budget three years in a row, claiming funds directed to the LAPD were too high.
The plan would see the City Attorney to draft ordinances transferring responsibilities from the LAPD to the Controller’s office.
The measure, which passed unanimously Tuesday, will create a new “Bureau of Police Oversight” inside the Controller’s Audit Services Division, giving Controller Kenneth Mejia sweeping authority over how the LAPD’s finances are reviewed and tracked.
The LAPD and the police union have been contacted for comment.
But the department would lose accountants and a team of “police performance auditors” tasked with reviewing department operations, spending patterns and internal reporting.
The plan would roll out in phases, mapping out staffing, setting priorities, and detailing how the Controller’s office would probe LAPD operations, all under the banner of “transparency” and “oversight.”
Los Angeles already has layers of police oversight in place, including LAPD’s own audit division, the independent Inspector General and the civilian Police Commission, all tasked with reviewing performance, spending and compliance.
Even the Controller already has the authority to audit LAPD finances.
The Controller’s office is traditionally responsible for auditing city departments, tracking spending, rooting out waste and issuing financial reports meant to keep City Hall accountable.
Under Mejia, that office has taken an aggressive approach, launching high-profile audits and public dashboards scrutinizing city spending, including police overtime.
Hernandez has built her political brand on slashing police presence and funding, a record the Post laid out on Sunday, detailing her long history of defunding rhetoric while still relying on LAPD officers for her own security at public events.
Police officials were present in council chambers as the motion advanced, but no councilmember called them up to testify, question the proposal or defend their department.
The proposal requires additional analysis on staffing, feasibility and cost before it comes back for a vote.