He said he wants to return the city to the downward trend in shootings and killings that it had been enjoying for years before the pandemic. Garcetti and Moore said officers are already taking more guns off the streets, and that community policing efforts that are paying dividends are getting new investment. Garcetti, Moore and other city officials are contemplating layoffs of hundreds of officers and other deployment cutbacks because of the city’s financial crisis. Critics have blasted the summer budget cut and the potential layoffs as wrong-headed, and suggested the increased violence should preclude any additional cuts. He said police especially want to work with residents to identify illegal channels through which guns are entering the city.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 26, 2021 01:30 UTC