The LAPD said Tuesday that one officer has been terminated for refusing to participate in the City’s mandatory vaccination program for employees, which has allowed thousands of unvaccinated workers to remain on duty while they await decisions on their religious or medical exemption requests.
Seven additional officers were facing termination at a Board of Rights, an internal police administrative trial board, according to LAPD Assistant Chief Bea Girmala.
The City’s vaccine program required all employees to report their vaccination status, and, if unvaccinated, request a religious or medical exemption by a deadline in December.
As of this week 2,049 LAPD employees, or about 16% of the workforce, were unvaccinated and awaiting exemption decisions. Nearly 83% of the department’s employees, including both police officers and support staff, were considered fully vaccinated.
At one point during the spike in COVID-19 infections in January, more than 1,000 LAPD employees were off work because of positive tests or exposures, the Department said. As of this week there were 277 employees either recovering or isolating at home.
