LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Police Commission approved Sept. 28 an $18.5 million plan from the police department aimed at improving how it handles protests and civil unrest, but the City Council will need to approve the funding increase. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)—which has a $1.76 billion budget this fiscal year—had initially submitted a proposal seeking an additional $66.7 million to incorporate 106 recommendations from three reports released in March and April claimed the department lacked preparedness, training, and unity of command when responding to protests. The original request was reduced to $18.5 million when the police commission asked the LAPD to re-evaluate its recommendations and the cost. The new proposal calls for nearly $12.6 million for training, with the top two priorities being mobile field force training and the use of less-lethal launchers, which the reports claimed officers weren’t properly trained in and in some circumstances used against …