Reality star Realtor slams California officials for defunding police, regrets voting for Gavin Newsom
Oppenheim, 47, claimed his best friend and co-star, Mary Fitzgerald Bonnet, and her husband Romain were the victims of a burglary last week. In addition to their possessions being stolen, their dog was "found in the middle of the street," he said.
"Luckily, he's OK, and we called 911."
The real estate guru said authorities weren't immediately available and blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for not funding an already overwhelmed Los Angeles Police Department and instead using state money on needless projects.
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"The police said that they wouldn't be able to come out to the property for a few days because they were busy. That's not the fault of the police," Oppenheim said. "The police department has 8,600 police officers. That's the expectation by the end of this year.
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"That's the lowest level of police officers in the Los Angeles Police Department in 30 years despite unbelievably high crime right now and a myriad of different robberies. And I just wish the governor and the mayor would address this by funding our police and also our fire department."
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"Now we've defunded both of those, and yet we spend tens of billions of dollars — actually over $100 billion dollars — on bullet trains from Merced to Bakersfield that are $60-70 billion dollars over budget and probably 15 years away and will be completely obsolete by the time they're finished."
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Oppenheim asked politicians to "come back to common sense" and make it a priority to "keep the citizens safe."
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"I've got friends leaving Los Angeles every day because they don't feel safe — because of crime, because of homelessness," he said. "It's not fair. It's not right. We have the money. We have the tax revenue. We just spend it on saving the smelt fish or bullet trains to nowhere.
"Can we please, at least if we're going to do that stuff, can we double the budget of the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles Police Department? Can we have 15,000 police officers instead of 8,000 police officers?"
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Oppenheim noted that while he has video of the three burglary suspects, he's not sure how much the evidence will help solve the crime.
"It's just so frustrating because this is happening to good people all over this city," he said. "And, of course, people are going to rob people because they know there's no consequences. Of course they're going to steal their car. So, please, can we just come back to common sense?
"Newsom, I voted for you. I regret that now because you're just worried about getting re-elected and placating your base, and you're not worried about your most important responsibility — and same with you, Karen Bass — and that is protecting the people of this city and this state."
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Newsom recently met with President Donald Trump to tour the damage from the deadly Los Angeles fires and asked Trump for federal support for rebuilding efforts.
Oppenheim has given $100,000 to LAFD and LAPD first responders, while also calling out bureaucratic red tape.
"Tens of billions of dollars have been spent by the state and the city on things that really make no sense," he previously told Fox News Digital. "We're cutting the budgets of the very departments and institutions that are most important on the front lines of keeping us safe, like the fire department and the police department.
"It is the time to kind of reflect and learn. And there were things that we could have done so much better."Original article source: Reality star Realtor slams California officials for defunding police, regrets voting for Gavin Newsom
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