Mayor Eric Garcetti has nominated William Briggs to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Briggs, whose nomination is subject to City Council confirmation, would succeed Shane Goldsmith, who is stepping down.
“Our city is leading the movement to reimagine public safety, revitalize our commitment to racial justice and support our courageous police officers who keep our city safe. And I’m confident that William Briggs will bring an extraordinary record of leadership and commitment to the fight for fairness, equity, and a safer Los Angeles,” said Garcetti. “Nothing matters more to our common security than deepening bonds of trust between police officers and the Angelenos they serve, especially in communities of color, and I know William shares my commitment to working with Angelenos to bring meaningful change.”
Briggs is a partner at Venable LLP, serving as a trial lawyer and civil litigator with broad experience in the entertainment industry and ample time spent in state and federal courtrooms across various practices of law, including disputes that involve trademarks, defamation, and the First Amendment.
Beyond his legal practice, Briggs is heavily involved in civic and community affairs. In 2014, Garcetti appointed him to be a commissioner on the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System, where he was responsible for overseeing the Pension and Disability Benefits for city employees. Briggs also served as a trustee on the Sierra Canyon School Board of Directors and has provided pro bono legal services to the Alliance for Children’s Rights.
“I’m honored to serve as a member of the Police Commission and grateful to Mayor Garcetti for this opportunity to give back to a city that has done so much for me,” said Briggs. “This is an extraordinary moment to add my voice and perspective to the work of shaping L.A. into a model of 21st policing, fostering and building trust between our communities and law enforcement, and helping to ensure our city is a safer and more secure place for everyone who calls it home.”
Garcetti announced the creation of the Therapeutic Transportation Pilot, a groundbreaking new model for unarmed crisis response that will dispatch mental health workers to some nonviolent 911 calls.
In July, Garcetti announced the establishment of a new Community Safety Partnership Bureau within the police department — placing a nationally-recognized model for community policing at the heart of the City’s public safety efforts. The Police Commission announced a ban on the carotid restraint control hold in training and in practice, as well as the permanent discontinuation of the CalGangs Database, to prevent and end abuses that have had a disproportionate effect on Black and Latino men.
These and other reforms have made a measurable impact on public safety across the city: the LAPD has decreased fatal officer-involved shootings by half; reduced juvenile arrests 85 percent compared to 2010 through diversion programs; and expanded the area covered by Gang Reduction & Youth Development programs by 50 percent.
L.A. is the largest city in America in full alignment with the 8 Can’t Wait slate of reforms to use-of-force policy –– which includes a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds, requirements that officers exhaust all alternatives to deadly force and intervene against misconduct, and a prohibition on shooting at moving vehicles.
