LA Police Commission head calls officers’ vaccine resistance ‘appalling’

The head of the Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian panel that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), on Tuesday called officers’ resistance to getting vaccinated “appalling,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

“I personally find it appalling that the personnel of a department charged with public safety would willfully, intentionally and brazenly endanger the lives of those who they have taken an oath to protect,” Los Angeles Police Commission President William Briggs said, adding that he found it “extremely dubious” that more than 2,600 employees have legitimate religious reasons for exemptions, according to the Times.

“I ask each officer who has yet to receive the vaccine to do so,” Briggs said. “You swore an oath to protect and serve. You need to uphold that oath.”

Los Angeles is mandating that all county employees receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by early October.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League’s board hit back at Brigg’s comments in a statement to the Times.

“His blanket labeling of religious exemption applications as being ‘dubious’ when they have not even been submitted, let alone evaluated, will have a chilling effect on police officers exercising and expressing their long-held religious beliefs,” the board wrote, adding Brigg should apologize to those he has accused of lying. 

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said, as of Monday, 3,124 department personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Moore added that nearly 61 percent of the department has been fully vaccinated. Eleven LAPD officers have died from COVID-19-related issues to date. 

COVID-19 is the leading cause of death among law enforcement officers in 2021, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. 

Around 77 percent of residents in Los Angeles County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 69 percent are fully vaccinated, county data shows. There were more than 1,111 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths reported Sept. 28 in the county.