The next is a transcript of an interview with Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California that aired Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, on "Face the Nation."
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass, who made historical past final week when she turned the primary lady and the primary Black lady to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. Good morning to you.
REP. KAREN BASS: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You will be sworn in as mayor of L.A. December the twelfth. You have received lots of work minimize out for you. And I do know you- you campaigned arduous on the- you probably did you campaigned arduous on the difficulty of crime and homelessness and I need to get proper into that. Homicides up 14% from two years in the past, robberies up nearly 16% in L.A. over that very same time. Do you intend to maintain the present police chief?
REP. BASS: Sure, there is no want on my half to take away the present police chief. You already know, we've got a disaster in our metropolis with homelessness as properly. 40,000 individuals are asleep in tents all all through our metropolis and 4 or 5 of them move away each morning. And so we've got a number of crises proper now. And so it is my intent on day one, to deal with that challenge. And it is my understanding that the chief of police's contract is up on the finish of subsequent yr.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you might revisit it at the moment, in different phrases. However–
REP. BASS: Proper. Revisit that together with many different normal managers as properly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. Once I ask about your method to policing, I am aware that you just're in a reasonably distinctive place since you labored on this in Congress, in placing ahead the George Floyd Policing Act. In your public security plan for L.A., you discuss hiring extra officers. And I do know prior to now, you've got mentioned that "defund the police" was one of many worst slogans ever. How do you carry all that to altering policing in L.A.? What particularly do you do this's completely different?
REP. BASS: Effectively, to begin with, I feel what's most necessary about police reform, whether or not we're speaking in Los Angeles or anyplace else, is accountability and transparency. These are two issues which can be vital. When it comes to hiring law enforcement officials, we have had a number of hundred law enforcement officials retire or transfer on for different causes. And what I'm proposing is that we change those that town has allotted for, in different phrases, bringing the police division as much as its full power that's budgeted. The opposite factor is, is that in lots of communities, they need to see an elevated police presence. And so I'm calling for transferring officers off of administrative responsibility and placing them on the streets. That is the way in which we are able to rent them as quickly as attainable. However along with that, I imagine in clearly, stopping crime when it happens, however doubling down and tripling down in communities the place crime prevention methods and completely different approaches are required. And I've labored on this for numerous years. And so I need to absolutely fund applications to stop crime, to intervene, particularly with younger folks. And one of many issues that our present chief of police mentioned is that he accounted for a spike in crime, particularly put up restrictions of the pandemic, as a result of lots of the crime prevention applications shut down as a consequence of COVID.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You disclosed again in September that- that you just your self, have been a sufferer of housebreaking at your property, and also you had two weapons stolen at the moment. And I ponder, did you will have these weapons since you felt unsafe in your personal dwelling? And did you exit and buy new weapons?
REP. BASS: I've not bought new weapons. I had two handguns. I had owned them for a really, very, very very long time. And I actually imagine in a person's proper to legally possess weapons and correctly retailer them. Mine have been legally bought and correctly saved.
MARGARET BRENNAN: However you would not encourage folks to really feel that they should arm themselves to defend their very own houses?
REP. BASS: I actually hope. And you understand, one of many issues that occurred within the pandemic, not simply in Los Angeles, however all throughout the nation was a rise in gun buying. One of many the explanation why we have had a rise in crime in Los Angeles is due to ghost weapons, and ghost weapons completely have to be cracked down on and that is one thing that will likely be a spotlight of mine as properly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What's the long run resolution to the homelessness and housing disaster? As a result of housing affordability is fairly large downside in Los Angeles.
REP. BASS: Completely proper. Los Angeles has change into unaffordable. You need to have a complete method. There is not any magic bullet. So before everything, it's important to stop folks from falling into homelessness. And clearly affordability is essential to that. However you understand, individuals are on the streets for quite a lot of points. And it's important to handle why they're there. Is it substance abuse? Is it psychological sickness? Is it simply straight up affordability? Now we have people who find themselves in tents who really work full time. Now we have 1000's of youngsters who're in tents. Some with moms who fled home violence, some who're youngsters who aged out of foster care. Some individuals who have been previously incarcerated as a result of they aren't capable of finding housing are in tents. So we've got to have a complete method and handle the the explanation why folks have been unhoused. However before everything, we've got to get folks off the streets. Persons are actually dying on the streets in Los Angeles and this has received to cease.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, we will likely be watching, Mayor-elect, the way you just do that. It is a tall order. Thanks for becoming a member of us this morning. And we will likely be proper again.