Plan to Add 250 LAPD Officers Is Approved

A plan to add 250 police officers to Los Angeles’ understaffed police force received approval Wednesday from the City Council.

The council also moved a step closer to putting a measure on the May ballot to increase the city’s sales tax to pay for more police.

The plan to begin hiring this summer, proposed by Councilman Greig Smith, marks the first time in years that a substantial number of officers would join the department. Mayor James K. Hahn has failed twice to persuade the council to increase the force.

“This gives us a quick fix, a short-term fix, and it gets us through a dark time,” Smith said. To pay for the officers, the city would borrow against an expected $62.5-million payment from the state. The money would pay for the officers for a few years, after which the city would have to find another source.

The vote followed a vigorous two-hour debate in which council members repeatedly said they wanted more police officers but disagreed about how to pay for them. Los Angeles has historically been one of the nation’s most under-policed cities, with about 9,100 officers for 3.8 million residents. By comparison, Chicago has 13,500 officers for 2.9 million residents.

A measure on the November ballot that would have increased the sales tax by a half cent countywide to pay for more police failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote. But it did receive support from 64% of voters in the city.

On Wednesday, the council voted 10 to 5 to ask the city attorney to draft another ballot measure for the May 17 general election. It would ask Los Angeles residents to raise the sales tax from 8.25%, to 8.75%.

Officials estimate the increase would raise $200 million a year and pay for about 1,200 officers. About 25% of this funding would be devoted to crime prevention and firefighters and paramedics.

Hahn and LAPD Chief William J. Bratton applauded the council’s decision but acknowledged they would have to work hard to persuade 10 council members, the minimum required, to vote again to put the measure on the ballot. The council has until Feb. 11 to make that decision.

“Drawing down on money owed to us from Sacramento will enable us to address our immediate needs, but does not go far enough to maintain and sustain growth over the long term,” Hahn said in a statement. “Only voter approval of a ballot initiative in May will enable us to expand the LAPD by more than 1,200 officers.”

Council President Alex Padilla voted in favor of drafting the measure but said he had reservations about asking voters to raise taxes months after they rejected a similar measure.

“I don’t think we have our act together to be successful in May,” Padilla said in an interview. “What I saw today was not just a divided council, but even a divided community. It was tough enough to get approval for this when everyone was in agreement, but in light of this division and context of the mayor’s race, I don’t think now is the time to put it on the ballot that maximizes its chances of passage.”

Geography plays a part in the debate. Some council members who represent residents in more upscale parts of the city say their constituents will not support another tax increase.”The voices in the San Fernando Valley are very clear,” Councilman Dennis Zine said. “They’re saying, ‘Enough with the taxes, now give us the services we deserve.’ ”

He voted against the idea, along with council members Smith, Bernard Parks, Antonio Villaraigosa and Jack Weiss.

Some council members who represent residents in crime-plagued areas disagreed and gave impassioned speeches on a need to make the streets safer.

“Let me be brutal for a second,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents part of downtown Los Angeles. “I’m tired of going to funerals where the casket has to be closed halfway because someone’s face had to be pasted back together.”

But Parks said although 200 people in his district were killed in the last two years, residents there had not supported a countywide sales-tax increase. And a higher tax, he said, might only prompt people to spend outside the city.

“Our surrounding areas earn three to five times more sales tax per capita than we do. We don’t need to add another half cent,” Parks argued.

Bratton told the council members that he was “pleading” with them. “I need your help,” he said. Fire Chief William Bamattre “needs help. Your constituents need your help.”