The California State Assembly is considering at least two dangerous bills related to the 2028 Olympics. AB 2411 would enable the California Olympic and Paralympic Public Safety Command (COPPSC) to hire out-of-state cops (and cops from other parts of California) to police the LA area for the 2028 Games. Join us in opposing this bill by submitting a letter to the California Legislature Position Letter Portal as soon as possible. Here’s our letter explaining why we say NO! (Learn why we also oppose AB 1953 here.)
April 10, 2026
Re: Opposition to AB 2411 (California Olympic and Paralympic Public Safety Command: agreements with state and local agencies)
To the California State Assembly Committees on Emergency Management and Public Safety,
We write in strong opposition to AB 2411, a bill that would unnecessarily inundate the Los Angeles region with thousands of additional police officers, endangering our racialized, queer, immigrant, unhoused, poor, sex worker, and street vendor community members.
NOlympics LA is a growing coalition of over 40 LA and Southern California organizations that advocate and organize around housing and homelessness, policing, environmental justice, immigration, and informal economies. We oppose the Olympics coming to LA because hosting mega-events multiplies and intensifies risks to poor, working-class, and racialized Angelenos, hindering our coalition members’ work to build a more just Los Angeles.
Mega-events like the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games incentivize police to engage in aggressive behavior (beyond normal levels of police brutality) to enable the host city to project an image of safety and order to international media and tourists. From LA in 1984 to host cities around the world, Olympic policing has regularly brought:
- An uptick in violent sweeps of people living on the street
- Crackdowns that criminalize and disrupt the livelihoods of informal economy workers from street vendors to sex workers
- Limitless spending on weapons and surveillance technologies used to terrorize marginalized communities long after the Olympics
- Expansive racial profiling of people of color
- Militarized streets and security checkpoints that limit residents’ mobility
- Expanded information-sharing and coordination among local and national agencies, which, especially in today’s political climate, puts undocumented Angelenos at heightened risk of detention and deportation
- Repression of protests and dissent
Bringing more cops to the LA area would not make the average Angeleno or Californian safer. In fact, it would put many of our community members at heightened risk.
LA already has one of the deadliest police forces in the country, which leaves us with no faith in the standard training programs and certainly no faith in the “streamlined” version proposed in this bill. While our local police are deadly, out-of-state police pose additional threats to our communities, as they lack familiarity with local people and contexts. For example, at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, police from Ohio killed an unhoused man. The neighborhood’s alderman and other local witnesses connected the police officers’ lack of familiarity with the area to their fatal actions.[1]
The cost of hiring thousands of out-of-state police would be extravagant and wasteful, at a time when California has so many more urgent financial needs. Additionally, LA and Californians could be on the hook financially for any misconduct lawsuits brought against out-of-state police officers. Although the federal government may contribute to Olympic security funds, the current administration will likely expect and demand something in return for Olympic funding. California should not create another situation in which it is beholden to the current presidential administration. A four-week party is not worth it.
Bringing thousands of out-of-state police officers to the LA area will put Angelenos and residents of neighboring cities at increased risk of violence, deportation, and repression. We strongly urge you to side with what is in the best interest of Californians, especially communities already vulnerable to police violence, and reject AB 2411.
Sincerely,
The NOlympics LA coalition
Footnotes:
[1] https://www.wpr.org/news/man-killed-in-milwaukee-by-out-of-state-police-officers; https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/us/milwaukee-shooting-republican-national-convention.html