Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman gave differing answers over the weekend about whether she would keep LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell in place if she unseats Mayor Karen Bass in the Nov. 3 election, prompting sharp criticism from the Bass campaign.
In a Saturday interview with ABC7, Raman said replacing the chief was not an immediate priority. “You know, replacing the chief of police is not on my 100-day agenda. Restoring trust with our law enforcement and the public is on my 100-day agenda,” she said.
Asked about Bass’s warning that firing McDonnell ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could be disruptive, Raman pointed to the chief’s current term. “I believe his term goes through 2030, if I’m not mistaken, and at that point I think I would be looking to appoint a new chief,” she said.
But when a reporter sought clarification the same day, Raman offered a different timeline, saying she would expect to replace McDonnell before his term expires in 2030, promising a “careful, orderly transition.”
On NBC’s Sunday program, Raman was asked about rumors that she wants to install former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón as police chief. She denied knowing the source of the speculation. “No, no. I don’t know where the rumors are coming from. I don’t know him personally,” she said.
Bass campaign responds
Bass campaign spokesperson Alex Stack said the shifting statements reflect a pattern. “This is yet another example of Nithya Raman having no core beliefs and telling people what they want to hear to advance her political career,” Stack said. “It’s not leadership, and it’s not what LA needs in its mayor.”
Stack added: “Public safety in LA is too important to play political games with. We need to recruit more officers and boost public safety, you don’t do that by calling our officers ‘fascist liars.’ Raman can’t even come clean about who she wants to bring in.”
The reference is to a now-deleted social media video that featured McDonnell’s face crossed out beneath the words “Only you can stop fascist liars.” Raman’s campaign has said the message was aimed at ICE and the Trump administration, not McDonnell, and blamed the video’s editing on an outside influencer.
Gascón speculation alarms law enforcement
Multiple law enforcement and political sources say Gascón’s name has circulated inside City Hall and among rank-and-file officers as a possible replacement for McDonnell. A senior LAPD officer said the belief that Raman is in contact with Gascón is widespread within the department.
Gascón, 72, joined the LAPD in 1978, rose to assistant chief, and later led police departments in Mesa, Arizona, and San Francisco before becoming San Francisco’s district attorney. He won the Los Angeles County DA’s office in 2020 but was voted out in 2024 after a tenure marked by disputes over sentencing enhancements, juvenile prosecutions and lenient charging policies. Supporters said his reforms reduced excessive punishment and racial disparities; voters replaced him with Nathan Hochman.
Former Los Angeles City Councilman and longtime LAPD officer Dennis Zine, 79, warned that appointing Gascón would be destabilizing. “Gascón would turn the LAPD upside-down,” Zine said. “He basically flipped from one extreme to the other — law enforcement to pro-criminal.”
“I would think you’d see a mass exodus of officers with less than five years on the job. It’s like the ship is sinking. Let’s get out while we can,” Zine said.
Zine also raised concerns about timing, with the city set to host the 2028 Olympics. “You’re gonna see a lot of them leaving before the Olympics. There’s no question,” he said. “We don’t have enough officers now to maintain policing the city of Los Angeles, let alone the drain it’s gonna take on the Olympics.”
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park said leadership decisions at the top of the department carry real consequences for staffing. “Decisions about leadership and the appointment of the chief and command staff is something that will absolutely directly impact our staffing levels at LAPD,” Park said.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League’s board of directors issued a pointed statement: “Apparently, Nithya Raman’s public safety plan consists of appointing the author of Proposition 47, George Gascón, to be our Chief of Police. We’d be laughing if it wasn’t so frightening that after getting bounced two years ago as District Attorney by a landslide, Raman wants to flip her nose at voters and return Gascón to power.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli weighed in during a Skid Row press conference. “I think when you talk to the residents of LA, they want law and order, the days of lawlessness are over,” Essayli said. “Mr. Gascón lost an election over that. So the decision will be made by the voters.”
Political strategist Michael Trujillo questioned whether the public would accept such a move. “After voters rejected Gascón as being a public safety official as our DA, do they really want Nithya Raman to backdoor him in as being the chief of police?” he said.
A current Los Angeles prosecutor was blunt about the stakes. “Law enforcement hates him. Voters hate him. And Raman attempting to resurrect him should terrify residents of Los Angeles who suffered under the crime spree that took place while Gascón was the DA,” the prosecutor said.
