LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti did not mince his words when recently summarizing the sentiments of the city’s latest iteration of the “Targeted Safer at Home Order”.
"My message couldn't be simpler," Garcetti said during an afternoon briefing. "It's time to hunker down. It's time to cancel everything. And if it isn't essential, don't do it." https://t.co/Azh3uHmtcM
— mary01961 (@mary01961) December 3, 2020
When speaking on the unveiling of said order aiming to restrict non-essential travel and gatherings, Mayor Garcetti said that locals need to “hunker down” and opt to “cancel everything” non-essential.
The latest modifications to the “Targeted Safer at Home Order” were issued on December 2nd, which prefaces the restrictions with the following mandate:
“Subject only to the exceptions outlined in this Order, all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes.”
The general sentiments conveyed within the order seemed to hone in specifically on non-essential gatherings of those who do not reside inside the same household:
“All public and private gatherings of any number of people from more than one household are prohibited.”
However, there are numerous exceptions listed within the 12-page updated order.
Which said exceptions have become pretty much the standard to expect, such as retail outlets being open if they sell food, indoor gyms being closed and indoor dining being kiboshed for the time being.
Also, many aspects that would fall under recreational activities/areas are seemingly permitted to stay open – such as parks, beaches, ‘outdoor’ fitness centers and even gold courses.
Failure to adhere to the mandated order detailed the following possible ramifications:
“Failure to comply with this Order shall constitute a misdemeanor subject to fines and imprisonment…Additionally, individuals, businesses, and properties which fail to comply with this Order may be subject to having their utility services shut off by the Department of Water and Power.”
When speaking about the recent order, Mayor Garcetti really focused in on the notion of avoiding gatherings that involved members of different households congregating. In short, this is likely a direct reference to those who were pondering family gatherings for the holidays:
“My message couldn’t be simpler. It’s time to hunker down. It’s time to cancel everything. And if it isn’t essential, don’t do it. Don’t meet up with others outside your household. Don’t host a gathering. Don’t attend a gathering.”
“And following our targeted Safer at Home order, if you’re able to stay home, stay home.”
The new year brings hope –– for vaccines and for stopping this pandemic.
But here's the truth: we're in for a long, hard winter.
As the worst hits us, stay home as much as you can. Cancel any non-essential activities.
Hunker down, L.A. We'll get through this together. pic.twitter.com/6TkVsTfPzP
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) December 3, 2020
The released order also prohibited any sort of travel – be that by foot, public transportation, bicycle, car – if the travel is not related to an essential endeavor (such as going to work, the grocery store and the ilk).
There are two exceptions related to gatherings with those who do not reside within one’s household in the delivered order – and those exceptions happen to be “outdoor” church services and protests:
“All public and private gatherings of any number of people from more than one household are prohibited, except for outdoor faith-based services described in Paragraph 5 and participating in an in-person outdoor protest while wearing a face covering, maintaining social distancing, and observing the Los Angeles County Protocol for Public Demonstrations.”
When the order was first unveiled on December 2nd, residents of Los Angeles had merely received a text message linking to the new order and were immediately confused by the line that read “all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes.”
City order is basically the same as the county's order, just more strongly worded. There are like 10 pages of exemptions to the prohibitions, so ppl are (rightly) confused. But msg is same: no hanging out or partying https://t.co/Iaj0TsOgrX
— Maya Meinert (@shopeatsleep) December 3, 2020
However, that initial confusion was later cleared up as area residents thought they were under a de facto house arrest of sorts at first.
December 2nd saw an additional 5,987 cases of COVID-19, with December 1st having shown an additional 7,593. Mayor Garcetti said that if that trend continues, hospitals could become overwhelmed before the year’s end:
“If cases continue on this pathway, if they continue to increase at the pace that we’ve seen, the county expects we will run out of hospital beds here in Los Angeles by Christmastime.”
Back in late November, Mayor Garcetti also claimed that the increase in murder throughout the city was in no way related to the recent defunding of the LAPD.
Here’s that previous report.
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LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on November 23rd that the recent spike in homicides within Los Angeles was not due to making cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department earlier this year.
CLAIM: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti denied Monday that cutting funds to the LAPD had led to a spike in homicides. https://t.co/wzNOZqapj0
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 25, 2020
Los Angeles is currently experiencing the highest number of homicides that the city has seen in over a decade, a reported 300 murders as of November 22nd.
A number we have not seen in over a decade—300 homicides in a year. Senseless violence & tragic loss of life.
Our people are doing everything they can to stop the violence, but we need your help. If you have any info, report it. You can remain anonymous.https://t.co/Ti3qvwDM7Y https://t.co/xy0LBVsj56
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) November 22, 2020
Naturally, this elevation in homicide within the city was going to draw questions on whether there was a connection with the recent defunding of $150 millions from the LAPD budget.
When directly asked whether there was a correlation to the LAPD being defunded – namely with the homicide unit having been one of the facets impacted by the budget cuts – Mayor Garcetti said that the cuts aren’t to blame.
Los Angeles hits 300 homicides for first time since 2009 | https://t.co/1XMK4okDza https://t.co/1mGNhYy0UJ
— Beach Cities (@cdcmacsac) November 23, 2020
Mayor Garcetti pointed to other cities that have seen increases in homicides overall without having had any funds deprived from their respective police forces.
Still, the LAPD has been having many units disbanding as of late – and not just because of the $150 million cut in the reaction to riots and social unrest from over the summer.
The city itself is experiencing what’s been described as a “fiscal emergency”, where the LAPD has not been immune to additional budget cuts due to a lack of funds available for the city as a whole.
According to a memo obtained by KABC7, the chief of police has been put in a tough spot having to determine where and what needs to be cut:
“A City of Los Angeles fiscal emergency has created an unexpected Department budgetary crisis and shortfall. As a result, the Chief of Police is making significant and difficult changes to adapt to the current financial and personnel shortages.”
The units that were reportedly affected by the “fiscal emergency” in terms of disbanding were reported as the being ones focused on sexual assaults, animal cruelty and homeless outreach.
Outside of completely disbanding certain units, specialized details like the Hollywood Entertainment Detail and the Pacific Area Beach Detail in Venice Beach were downsized.
ABC 7: LAPD's sexual assault, homeless outreach units among several to be disbandedhttps://t.co/apPfvYyoN5
— Ahab (@Ahab_Of_Gilead) November 20, 2020
Other units said to be slated for some degree of downsizing within the LAPD were cited as Robbery/Homicide Division, Commercial Crimes Division, Metropolitan Division, Traffic Group and Labor Relations unit.
It’s currently unclear exactly how many officers and personnel these measures will directly impact.
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