1,000 signatures reached
To: Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles Police Commission
Fire LAPD Chief Moore
Under Chief Michel Moore the Los Angeles Police Department stands as the most murderous, scandalous, and corrupt police department in the nation.
As of September in 2023:
-MOST MURDEROUS - LAPD officers have shot at least 27 people, killing 17 - more than any other police department in the United States. In fact, killings by LAPD account for 8% of the total homicides in the City (17 of 219). Chief Moore has fostered a culture within LAPD where police murder with impunity; rather than being held accountable, they are shielded. There is a clear and disproportionate targeting of Black people, who account for more than half of those killed by police in a city that is less than 9% Black. Once the lives of schoolteachers - like #KeenanAnderson, mothers - like #JessicaBrown, and fathers - like #TakarSmith, are stolen, Chief Moore assassinates their characters. He regularly takes to media and uses his massive public relations team to make victims somehow responsible for their own deaths.
-SCANDALOUS - New scandals emerge constantly related to even the highest ranking officers. Two (of five) assistant chiefs have had recent sexual harassment and intimate partner stalking scandals. LAPD Mission Division Gang Unit has turned off bodycams to engage in a level of corruption and brutality not seen since the Rampart scandal. The lack of oversight and unwillingness to hold officers accountable has brought a federal investigation.
-CORRUPT - Killings by officers, acts of brutality, and even the most egregious of scandals are quickly covered up by Chief Moore. This includes everything from the theft of personal property of detainees (i.e. the theft and fraudulent use of debit cards), to multiple rapes committed by LAPD officers (like William Rodriguez who was recently convicted for raping women while he was on duty, but never fired by Moore), to racial profiling and targeting. LAPD repeatedly and continuously violates community trust, perhaps most outrageously in February when (mostly Black) Dorsey High School students were coerced into a "Blue Bridges" march under the guise of a #TyreNichols action; students report being deceived and required to walk alongside and pose for photo ops with police.
As the violence, scandal and corruption meted out by LAPD, continue to soar, Chief Moore bullies his way to increased budget allocations. The 2023-2024 LAPD is the largest police budget in the history of Los Angeles. With current planned increases, the LAPD budget will break the $4 billion mark, starving the City of resources for housing, mental health services, after-school programs, good jobs, and other resources needed to actually keep communities safe.
All of this and more has occurred in 2023 alone. Previous #FireChiefMoore petitions and efforts have cited the legacy of police murder and brutality on Moore's watch, the rampant racial profiling of Black Angelenos and refusal to sustain even a single racial bias complaint, the fostering of a culture where LAPD officers build an illegal gun sales ring, the rape and abuse of children under the LAPD Cadets program (called "consensual" by Chief Moore), the brutalization of protestors directly ordered by Chief Moore.
All of this threatens the overall safety of Angelenos and bears tremendous financial costs. Lawsuits by victims have racked up hundreds-of-millions in City payouts, and whistleblower lawsuits, which stem for a culture of retaliation are only adding to the tab that is born by taxpayers.
As of September in 2023:
-MOST MURDEROUS - LAPD officers have shot at least 27 people, killing 17 - more than any other police department in the United States. In fact, killings by LAPD account for 8% of the total homicides in the City (17 of 219). Chief Moore has fostered a culture within LAPD where police murder with impunity; rather than being held accountable, they are shielded. There is a clear and disproportionate targeting of Black people, who account for more than half of those killed by police in a city that is less than 9% Black. Once the lives of schoolteachers - like #KeenanAnderson, mothers - like #JessicaBrown, and fathers - like #TakarSmith, are stolen, Chief Moore assassinates their characters. He regularly takes to media and uses his massive public relations team to make victims somehow responsible for their own deaths.
-SCANDALOUS - New scandals emerge constantly related to even the highest ranking officers. Two (of five) assistant chiefs have had recent sexual harassment and intimate partner stalking scandals. LAPD Mission Division Gang Unit has turned off bodycams to engage in a level of corruption and brutality not seen since the Rampart scandal. The lack of oversight and unwillingness to hold officers accountable has brought a federal investigation.
-CORRUPT - Killings by officers, acts of brutality, and even the most egregious of scandals are quickly covered up by Chief Moore. This includes everything from the theft of personal property of detainees (i.e. the theft and fraudulent use of debit cards), to multiple rapes committed by LAPD officers (like William Rodriguez who was recently convicted for raping women while he was on duty, but never fired by Moore), to racial profiling and targeting. LAPD repeatedly and continuously violates community trust, perhaps most outrageously in February when (mostly Black) Dorsey High School students were coerced into a "Blue Bridges" march under the guise of a #TyreNichols action; students report being deceived and required to walk alongside and pose for photo ops with police.
As the violence, scandal and corruption meted out by LAPD, continue to soar, Chief Moore bullies his way to increased budget allocations. The 2023-2024 LAPD is the largest police budget in the history of Los Angeles. With current planned increases, the LAPD budget will break the $4 billion mark, starving the City of resources for housing, mental health services, after-school programs, good jobs, and other resources needed to actually keep communities safe.
All of this and more has occurred in 2023 alone. Previous #FireChiefMoore petitions and efforts have cited the legacy of police murder and brutality on Moore's watch, the rampant racial profiling of Black Angelenos and refusal to sustain even a single racial bias complaint, the fostering of a culture where LAPD officers build an illegal gun sales ring, the rape and abuse of children under the LAPD Cadets program (called "consensual" by Chief Moore), the brutalization of protestors directly ordered by Chief Moore.
All of this threatens the overall safety of Angelenos and bears tremendous financial costs. Lawsuits by victims have racked up hundreds-of-millions in City payouts, and whistleblower lawsuits, which stem for a culture of retaliation are only adding to the tab that is born by taxpayers.
Why is this important?
Police Chief Michel Moore is a threat to the public safety of Los Angeles. Every moment that he continues to hold the reins of the department puts Angelenos - especially Black, poor, unhoused, and people with mental health challenges - in grave danger. The culture of violence and corruption within LAPD that Moore fosters poses a threat to all Angelenos. We must demand his removal now.