L.A. Police Commission Wants to Add 350 Officers

Los Angeles police commissioners approved a plan Tuesday to add 350 officers and 171 civilian employees to the Police Department next year.,

The plan represents the most significant aspect of the Police Department’s $393-million budget request for fiscal 1986-87, which is to be forwarded this week to Mayor Tom Bradley’s office.

“We believe that providing this additional resource . . . should be a top priority of this city,” said Barbara L. Schlei, commission vice president.

Those who support the addition of officers point out that Los Angeles has about one police officer for every 500 residents and that many of the nation’s other large cities have substantially higher officer-to-citizen ratios.

$19-Million Budget Increase

Under the budget proposed Tuesday--a $19-million increase over that approved for fiscal 1985-86--49 new detectives would be assigned to the department’s narcotics division. They would be used to help “accelerate the war” against drugs, according to Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Twenty-seven other detectives would be assigned to the department’s homicide section.

In addition, new officers would be used to expand citywide the department’s drug abuse resistance education program and its child abuse prevention and education project.

The proposal would beef up foot patrols, form a unit to serve felony warrants and make permanent the 16-officer Asian Task Force.

Bradley, who has said he favors expanding the 7,000-officer Police Department, has not yet taken a position on the commission’s proposal.

Expansion Plan Defeated

In June, Los Angeles voters defeated a proposition that would have added 1,000 officers to the Police Department over a five-year period. The expansion would have been financed by boosting annual property taxes an average $58 for a typical homeowner.

A month earlier, the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan that would have paid for 100 new officers by shifting general revenue funds. Bradley vetoed that plan, however, saying that enlargement of the Police Department must be supported by more tax revenue.

On Tuesday, the commission’s expansion proposal drew support from Councilman Hal Bernson, who chairs the council’s Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Bernson said, “but we need at least 1,500 additional police.”