The Los Angeles Police Department’s goal of having a fully vaccinated workforce is to ensure the safety and welfare of the department’s officers, civilian workforce, their families and the public, the department’s chief, Michel Moore, told CBS MoneyWatch.
The LAPD’s goal of having a fully vaccinated workforce is to ensure the safety and welfare of the department’s officers, civilian workforce, their families and the public, Moore told CBS MoneyWatch. That means enforcing the city’s stringent vaccine mandate, which requires that unvaccinated employees get immunized by December 18; meantime, unvaccinated workers must get tested twice weekly on their own time and dime. Those who receive medical or religious exemptions will be reimbursed for the cost of testing.
“I believe the mandates are lawful as they are currently defined,” Moore said.
The LAPD on November 4 began having commanding officers personally delivering notices to 3,500 unvaccinated employees — including 2,239 who had requested an exemption — informing them of the requirements. The approach involves a “one-on-one conversation that was respectful,” said Moore, who expressed a desire to “turn down the volume” on the national debate taking place over vaccine mandates.
So far, the LAPD policy appears to be working. More than 60% of the unvaccinated employees have been officially notified one-on-one of the COVID-19 rules, and as of early Monday all but four had agreed to get vaccinated or request an exemption, Moore said.
Those four were sent home pending disciplinary hearings, with formal steps taken to terminate two of the employees and the others in line for removal if they don’t change their minds, Moore said.