Overview
- The final televised debate, held Tuesday, escalated a long-running rivalry as Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman traded sharp accusations and personal attacks.
- Bass demanded a retraction after accusing Raman of 'romanticizing' former LAPD chief Daryl F. Gates and said Raman misrepresented the city’s history of police abuse.
- Raman said she was invoking Special Order 40 as a 'gold standard' for limiting police cooperation with immigration enforcement and cited reporting that LAPD fingerprint data can be accessed by ICE.
- An LAPD spokesperson said Special Order 40 remains in effect and officers do not carry out civil immigration enforcement, and the department said it found no evidence that automated license-plate-reader data were shared with immigration agencies.
- The dispute matters for governance and the Olympics because the mayor appoints the Police Commission and influences whether a chief is removed, and polls show Raman leading while many voters remain undecided, making turnout operations decisive.