LA County Pays $828M to Victims, Still Finds Billions for Police
Los Angeles County proudly announces an $828 million settlement for childhood abuse victims, a necessary payout after decades of systemic failures. Yet, this eight-figure sum from taxpayer pockets comes as the county's Sheriff's Department alone proposes a $3.86 billion budget for 2024-25, disproportionately funding punitive measures over comprehensive preventative social services that could
actually prevent many such abuses in the first place. One might wonder where the priorities lie when the cost of systemic failure is simply factored into the budget, rather than the systems themselves being truly reformed. It's a familiar script: a massive payout for damage done, while the institutions responsible continue to absorb ever-larger slices of public funds. How many settlements does it
take before we consider investing in what actually keeps children safe — not just paying for the aftermath? Perhaps if the county treated abuse prevention with the same financial zeal it applies to law enforcement budgets, these reports wouldn't be quite so regular.