Councilman Renews Call for More Inglewood Police

Inglewood Councilman Anthony Scardenzan has renewed his call for the city to hire more police officers, saying he may ask voters to approve a tax increase to pay for 20 new officers.

Although Scardenzan praised the Inglewood Police Department for bringing down the city’s overall crime rate 30% in the past six years, he said widespread concern persists about violent and drug-related crimes. He also cited a recent proposal by Los Angeles Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky to increase the Los Angeles force 8.8% by hiring 650 officers in the next three years.

Inglewood has a force of 187 officers serving a population of about 104,000, for a ratio of about 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents. The Los Angeles Police Department’s estimate of 7,334 officers and 3.1 million residents gave Los Angeles a 1987 officer-resident ratio of about 2.36 per 1,000, an LAPD spokeswoman said.

“Our department is very highly qualified and well-prepared,” Scardenzan said in an interview last week. “They have done a fantastic job. But we need more officers. I’m really concerned about what happens in Inglewood if other cities increase their departments and we find ourselves with an overflow of crime.”

It would cost the city at least $1.3 million to hire and equip 20 more officers, but the most difficult issue for the council would be how to raise the money to pay for it.

Scardenzan tried to place a similar proposal on the June, 1987, ballot with the support of Councilman Daniel Tabor. But Mayor Edward Vincent and former council members Virgle Bensen and Bruce Smith voted to delay the proposal until a consulting firm studied the staffing and deployment of the Inglewood police. And last year, a city staff study said more officers would mean more taxes.

Police Chief Raymond Johnson said this week that department commanders are going over a preliminary version of that study, conducted by Public Administration Service of McLean, Va. The consultant will present a final report in February after modifications have been made.

City Manager Paul Eckles said at last week’s council meeting that the council will consider the whole question of manpower when the report is presented, in time to decide whether to put a proposal for a police tax on the June ballot.

Tabor said he feels the city needs more officers and said he supports a June referendum, although he said the city should also explore the option of reallocating funds to pay for more police. He said he hopes the report will give a sense of how many officers are needed and indicate other ways the department can increase its effectiveness.

“The questions are, who pays? And, are we effectively utilizing the police we already have?” Tabor said.

Tabor said he was convinced of the need for more officers because periodic “directed patrols” of trouble spots in his district have had immediate results. He said his constituents “clearly see the need of having more” police, but said, “I haven’t begun to ask the question of whether they’re willing to pay a police assessment.”

As police officials point out, the question of force size is a complex and emotional one confronted by police departments all over the nation. Despite shifts of some duties to civilians, crime and budget restraints require the Inglewood police and many other departments in Southern California to concentrate on responding to service calls rather than on crime prevention details such as those that target specific high-crime areas or criminal activity, they said.

Also, maintaining community perception of an active police presence is a priority, but perception may not tell the whole story, officials said. For example, residents are likely to gauge their safety by the visibility of patrol cars, although undercover operations by narcotics and gang units are vital in controlling crime.

Experts caution that comparing police forces on the basis of numbers is a crude method because it does not take into account how officers are used, types of crime and community needs.

State Department of Justice statistics for 1986--the latest year for which complete statistics are available--showed Inglewood with a population of 102,900, a police force of 184 and 5,904 reported crimes under the California Crime Index--which consists of homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and auto theft, spokeswoman Charlotte Rhea said.

The City of Compton, with a 1986 population of 92,800 and 127 officers had 6,556 reported crimes under the index. Pasadena had a population of 130,800, 200 officers and 5,029 crimes. Santa Monica had a population of 96,100, 152 officers and 3,879 crimes.

Police said that an important concern of the department is the city’s incidence of violent crimes--homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Inglewood’s 1986 violent crime rate was 1,760 per 100,000 residents, higher than the statewide rate of 920 per 100,000 residents, according to police statistics. The national average was 556 per 100,000.

Police officials were reluctant to discuss details of the voluminous $64,000 consultant’s report until they have completed reviewing it in preparation for the final draft. Some officers are said to be unhappy with the first draft, disagreeing with recommended organizational changes and contending these would not be well received in the community.

“There are a lot of things in it that are controversial,” said a recently retired Inglewood officer. “It was an overview, it wasn’t in-depth. We would have rather seen a West Coast firm do it, but they probably did a good job overall.”

The retired officer said many officers in the department feel the force should be increased, particularly in patrol.

City Manager Eckles declined to discuss the report until it is completed, but said: “It does not call for a major infusion of sworn officers.”

Scardenzan pointed out that the report is intended as a guide rather than a mandate for change. Regardless of its findings, he said, his conversations with police officers and residents have convinced him that people want more officers and are willing to pay for them.

“If the report shows how the department can reshuffle to do more, that’s fine,” he said. “A study is something on paper. Implementation is out on the street. The city is doing well and I want it to stay that way. I don’t want us to be caught when it’s too late.”

According to department calculations, 20 more officers would enable police to field three additional patrol cars around the clock.

Chief Johnson said the base cost for a new officer is $55,000 to $60,000 for salary and benefits, and there are additional costs for equipment and support services.

‘Who Pays’

Johnson said: “We have to tie in our considerations to the needs of the community and the political climate. If the question is whether I’d like to have 20 more officers, the answer is yes. I would take 50 more. But who is going to pay for them?”

A city staff report last year concluded the city could not afford more police without more taxes and analyzed how the city might raise the money. Using a hypothetical increase of 30 officers, the report said a “Special Police Protection Tax” applied to property would cost $90 for parcels occupied by single-family homes, $135 for parcels occupied by two to four housing units and $180 for parcels housing five or more units or businesses. The tax would produce about $2 million annually, the report said.

Scardenzan said he has asked Eckles to work out the costs to put 20 officers on the street at current rates--including all equipment and support services--and determine whether the ballot measure would require a two-thirds majority or simple majority for passage. The 1987 city staff report said a “special tax” would require a two-thirds vote.

Joseph Rouzan, a former police chief in both Inglewood and Compton, said that although such a tax would be a “hard sell,” it would be more likely to succeed if voters were asked to approve money for a specific purpose.

“If you say you want 25 more officers, and you say you’ll allocate 70% more to patrol and 25% for narcotics, for example, maybe then you’d be able to do it,” Rouzan said.