Los Angeles Times
August 27, 2020
As thousands of protesters took to the streets of Southern California in the last few months to call for criminal justice reform in demonstrations that sometimes veered into vandalism and arson, hundreds found themselves handcuffed for far lesser violations.
Police in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Monica racked up thousands of arrests, mostly for defiance of curfew or dispersal orders, drawing criticism from public health officials who feared that unmasked officers detaining people in close quarters risked worsening the spread of COVID-19.