The Los Angeles Police Department has stopped providing a specialized security detail for Vice President Kamala Harris after objections from the department's union, according to a report Friday.
Officers from the LAPD's Metropolitan Division, which operates under the department's Special Operations Group, had been assigned to protect Harris after President Donald Trump withdrew her federal security detail in August, The New York Times reported. That local protection ended Saturday following public backlash from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers.
The union criticized the arrangement in strong terms, calling it "nuts" and saying Los Angeles taxpayers should not be expected to cover what it described as an improper use of specialized city resources. The Fox News Politics newsletter and other outlets reported on the union complaint and the subsequent discontinuation of the LAPD protection.
The Metropolitan Division includes officers trained for high-risk operations and crowd management and is not routinely assigned to provide personal security for national political figures, according to reporting. The temporary assignment began after the federal protection change, when local officials and law-enforcement leaders arranged for LAPD officers to fill the gap.
News organizations cited LAPD and union statements relaying the sequence of events, but the department has not publicly detailed the operational timeline or the reasons for the termination beyond citing the union's objections. It was not immediately clear what security arrangements, if any, would be put in place for Harris going forward.
The episode places a spotlight on the tensions that can arise when federal protective arrangements are altered for nationally prominent political figures and local resources are tapped to provide security. Police unions, municipal officials and federal agencies have previously sparred over the use of local officers for duties that can carry significant costs and operational impacts for city forces.
The matter comes amid a broader, politically charged environment in which presidential and vice-presidential security arrangements have drawn public attention. News organizations covering the story noted that the change followed the August decision by the president to withdraw the federal detail and that the LAPD's arrangement was short-lived after the union's public opposition.
Reporting for this article drew on accounts from Fox News and The New York Times.