Nithya Raman is on the offensive — going after the Los Angeles Police Protective League for targeting her with attack ads — and blasting Mayor Karen Bass for police funding.
In a new campaign video, Raman casted the league as a powerful political force pushing back against her campaign. She also accused the LAPPL of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in attack ads against her.
The LAPPL is allegedly targeting Raman because she has refused to help fund policing in the past, according the Mayoral hopeful. She blames a deal struck with the union by Bass in 2023 as the reason for the city’s massive budget deficit, and the reason why the city’s infrastructure is crumbling.
Raman has built a clear history at City Hall of voting against expanding police funding and hiring, even as Los Angeles lost officers and struggled to respond to emergency calls.
In 2023, she opposed the LAPD contract that raised pay and offered bonuses to keep officers from leaving. In 2024, she voted against a city budget that included more than $100 million in additional police funding.
In 2025, she supported cutting police hiring in half, from 480 officers to 240, to help close a growing deficit.
Then in early 2026, she voted against increasing hiring to 410 officers, a level city leaders said was needed just to stabilize the force.
At the same time, the Los Angeles Police Department has lost roughly 1,200 officers since 2019, leaving the city with fewer police on the street.
Just this week at City Hall, that shortage was front and center during budget talks, with officials warning about strained staffing as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Raman has also pointed to slow 911 response times as proof the system is failing, warning that residents can be left waiting on hold or for help to arrive.
But the issue is not limited to a fight with the police union. The 911 system runs through the Los Angeles Police Department’s communications division, where civilian dispatchers say chronic understaffing and budget constraints have left operators overwhelmed and calls going unanswered.
The same push to limit police funding is now spilling into emergency response, where staffing shortages are hitting the front lines and delays are being felt across the city.
At the same time, Raman argues Los Angeles is overspending on policing, she chairs the council’s homelessness committee, which oversees nearly $1 billion a year in spending on about 43,699 people experiencing homelessness in a city of roughly 4 million.
We reached out to Raman’s campaign for comment.
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