In two L.A. City Council races, police 'abolition' is a wedge issue

Long before she uttered the words “F— the police,” Los Angeles City Council candidate Ysabel Jurado made clear she was not happy with the city’s approach to public safety.In a candidate questionnaire last year, Jurado promised to move money out of the LAPD and into other programs.She said police should be removed from K-12 schools.

And she described herself as an “abolitionist” — someone who favors the “abolition of police and the prison industrial complex.”“I believe that we keep ourselves safe,” she wrote in the 20-page questionnaire she provided to the Democratic Socialists of America — now one of her most crucial supporters.Tuesday’s election will determine whether Jurado and her allies can push City Hall further left on public safety by expanding the bloc of council members who want to rein in police spending and reallocate the savings.Jurado, a tenant rights attorney, is looking to unseat Councilmember Kevin de León in an Eastside district.Another DSA-backed candidate, business owner Jillian Burgos, is gunning for a seat in the San Fernando Valley.

In both contests, police abolition — and law enforcement spending overall — has emerged as a political fault line, particularly for voters worried about crime and disorder.Jurado, through a spokesperson, has described abolition as an aspirational goal, one that would take many years and many steps.De León says Jurado’s words should be taken literally, and seriously, by voters in his district, which stretches from downtown to El Sereno and Eagle Rock.De León, who has highlighted the issue in campaign mailers, calls Jurado’s approach to public safety “elitist and irresponsible,” saying low-income neighborhoods would suffer the most.

He ramped up his attacks over the last week after Jurado told a group of college students, “What’s the rap verse? F— the police, that’s how I see ‘em,” in response to a question about abolishing the police.“We need the police to kee...