The Los Angeles Police Department has some hard choices coming up. More than 2,600 employees with the LAPD are seeking religious exemptions for their mandated vaccinations.
An L.A. city ordinance required non-exempt employees to receive their first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer two-dose vaccine no later than Sept. 7, and their second dose no later than Oct. 5. Employees who chose to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine would have to be inoculated by Oct. 5.
“I personally find it appalling that the personnel of a department charged with public safety would willfully, intentionally and brazenly endanger the lives of those who they have taken an oath to protect,” Briggs told The Times.
Firefighters have also spoken out about their vaccination reluctance.
A group of 500 Los Angeles firefighters have filed a lawsuit over the vaxx mandate. Reports indicate that just a third of the city’s firefighters have reported their vaccinations. More than 400 fire department employees, roughly 12.5%, have said as of last week that they intend to petition for an exemption.
At the LAPD, about 60 percent of the department’s 10,000 officers and 3,000 civilians workforce have been fully vaccinated so far,according to ABC7.
Brigg’s comments were not well-received, and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, its union, demanded an apology, calling them “bigoted and reckless.”
The LAPD has reported that 3,142 LAPD personnel had tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic out of a current total workforce of 12,152 employees.
Tom Tapp contributed to this report.