The deadline for Los Angeles City Council to try to block the reappointment of Police Chief Michel Moore came and went without a peep from LAPD's outspoken City Hall critics, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the City Charter, council members could have introduced a motion to assert jurisdiction over the Police Commission’s decision, forcing a discussion of Moore’s record. That move, and a veto of his reappointment, would have required 10 votes. Among the critics who sidestepped such a vote were council members who, in the last election campaign, made LAPD a major target, criticizing LAPD's botched detonation of illegal fireworks that severely damaged homes and injured 17, and over the fatal police shooting of a 14-year-old, among other police shootings. None would answer questions about why they went quiet on perhaps the most critical law enforcement decision made so far this year in L.A.
The council wields enormous power over the police chief’s selection — in some ways, as much as or more than Mayor Karen Bass, who announced her support for Moore on the day of the commission’s vote. When Moore won a second term last month, it was already clear the council lacked the 10 votes needed to overrule the commission. Still, activist Albert Corado, who lost to Soto-Martinez last year, said he would have preferred that someone on the council speak out, even if they lacked the votes to change the outcome. Corado, whose sister was shot to death by police in 2018, said he believes the new council members are trying to show a unified front with the mayor — and aren’t prepared to challenge her decisions. “Once someone is in power, they’re going to play the game,” he said.