Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass in the November runoff, says that if she is elected, she would replace the department’s chief, Jim McDonnell. According to the New York Post, she announced it at a campaign event tied to her first 100 days, saying, “I don’t believe that his response to the ICE raids on our streets have met the moment.” She said his successor should be someone who “respects and honors” that immigrants are “under attack.”
Her first 100 days plan also calls for more unarmed crisis teams, and the Post reports she pledged to audit whether officers comply with Los Angeles’ sanctuary ordinance, which limits how city resources can be used in federal immigration enforcement. She gave a similar answer at an August debate when asked whether she would fire or replace him.
The raids she cited began June 6, 2025, when federal agents took 44 people into custody at sites around the city, among them a Home Depot and a Fashion District warehouse. Bass described the enforcement as meant to “sow terror.” The Post reports that crowds gathered downtown, LAPD ordered protesters to disperse around 7 p.m. after declaring the gathering unlawful, and the unrest stretched across 40 days, with Bass ordering a nighttime curfew starting June 10. The topic of immigration enforcement has remained part of the runoff.
Who has the power to remove an LAPD chief
The city charter spells out who decides. Under Section 575, the mayor picks the chief from a shortlist forwarded by the Police Commission, and the City Council has to confirm the choice. A chief’s term runs five years. The commission can dismiss the chief at any point during that term, and a two-thirds Council vote can also end the chief’s tenure immediately.
LAPD’s Special Order 40 bars officers from opening investigations whose sole purpose is to establish someone’s immigration status. A veteran officer told the Post, “We’ve never worked with them,” and a second officer cited that policy. Officers also told the paper that ousting the chief would be an error, citing staffing shortages, the 2028 Olympics and morale…