Story at a glance
- Emada Tingirides is the second Black, female deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.
- One of the first officers in the Community Safety Partnership, she now leads the bureau.
- After the police killing of George Floyd and ensuing protests, tensions between the LAPD and the community remain high.
Two years after Regina Scott became the first Black woman to achieve the rank of Deputy Chief, Emada Tingirides joins her as the second as tensions between the police and the Black community in Los Angeles come to a head.
“I’ve never seen this before,” L.A. Sheriff’s Capt. Duane Allen, Jr. told the LAist. “It’s hostile.”
But Tingirides, who was one of the founding officers in the LAPD’s Community Safety Partnership, remains convinced that the relationship can improve.
THE LATEST ON THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT
POLICE ARREST LAWMAKER WHO WROTE ‘BREONNA’S LAW’ DURING LOUISVILLE PROTESTS
WOMAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME AFTER THROWING BOTTLE AT BLACK RUNNER
ALMOST HALF OF NFL FANS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MINDS ABOUT COLIN KAEPERNICK
CITY TO PAY $12 MILLION TO BREONNA TAYLOR’S MOM, REFORM POLICE
NEW POLL SAYS NBA RATINGS HAVE PLUNGED BECAUSE OF RACIAL JUSTICE PROTESTS
“So much has changed. I know right now the consensus across the country is that very little has changed. But the LAPD actually represents the communities that they’re serving,” she told The Guardian. “Our department within itself looks different than it did when I came on 26 years ago. We’ve made an effort to ensure that we recruit and target people from the community to join our department and give back to their communities.”
Despite a $150 million cut to the LAPD budget, CSP is expanding. The bureau, which is mostly Black and Latino, the Los Angeles Times reported, was launched nearly a decade ago and has shown some — however inconsistent — signs of success. But for activists who are calling for the abolishment of police, it isn’t the point.
America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.
“This is not a program that needs to be operated by armed, sworn police officers,” Paula Minor of Black Lives Matter L.A. told the LA Times.
Tingirides, a Los Angeles Native, is no stranger to such criticism, but told The Guardian she believes in “a reallocation of resources” — not defunding the police.
“There’s been pushback from some activist groups: ‘I’m saying that we didn’t ask for this. We asked for defunding of the police. And here you are creating a new bureau for the police.’ That has been some of the pushback. LAPD officers understand this concept and understand the program,” she told The Guardian.
READ MORE LIKE THIS FROM CHANGING AMERICA
WHAT THE 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR
MORE THAN HALF OF VOTERS THINK AMERICAN SOCIETY IS RACIST: POLL
UBER PLEDGES $10 MILLION TO BECOMING AN ‘ANTI-RACIST’ COMPANY
SIRI, ALEXA TAKE A STAND ON BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT
PROTESTERS’ DEMANDS TO DEFUND THE POLICE TAKE HOLD
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
