“We are not talking about getting rid of mutual aid. I feel like we are talking at cross purposes.” Maggie Peters, speaking from the podium, was one of several people trying to steer the meeting back into the direction that had been intended.
An Emergency City Council meeting on July 9, 2025 picked up some of the threads from the previous emergency meeting on June 30 but could only take on few of the most urgent concerns. The request from the June 30, 2025 emergency meeting to discuss mutual aid was listed on the agenda as “Discussion, and if desired, direction…on the Department’s Mutual Aid policy.”
A large number of speakers showed up decrying the cancellation of mutual aid, which was not on the table. The misperception that somehow the council was looking to change the policy rather than discuss it took up more than an hour of public comment.
Discussing the mutual aid agreement between the Culver City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies concluded with a request for specifics to come back. How much does the department spend on mutual aid? In what situations is aid requested? At issue was the reflection that LAPD police presence at the anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles in early June had cost the city of L.A. $30 million.
Culver City Police Chief Jason Sims offered that the only officers who had been sent, on June 8 and 9, were officers who were already on duty, and the mutual aid did not cost the department any overtime. “We are not available to help ICE in any way. A recent request from that agency to use our parking lot was turned down … we are clear on our understanding of Resolution 2017 R- 025”
The law that was passed in 2017 declares Culver City as a Sanctuary City, and also supports the California Values Act, a state statute that reinforces civil rights for all.
Judith Martin-Straw
