Council Votes to Add 150 Officers to LAPD’s Force

Prompted in part by a fatal shooting on a Westwood street last month, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to increase the size of the Police Department by 150 officers--to a record level of 7,500--by June 30.

The police force expansion came in a stormy session in which department brass unsuccessfully sought to restore two deputy police chiefs that years ago were phased out in an economy move. Opponents of the deputy chief proposal said the cost of the two posts would be better spent on placing the equivalent of eight officers in patrol cars.

The 150 new officers would not be seen on city streets until near the end of the year after they complete training at the police academy.

$9 Million Cost

The cost of the new officers, coming so late in the fiscal year, would initially be only about $300,000, all of that amount coming from existing departmental funds. But during the first full year of their service, the cost would be about $9 million, officials said.

In addition to the expansion of the force, the council also approved a $2.2-million allocation to continue a year-old plan to pay officers overtime to fight gang-related drug deals, traffic violations and prostitution. The program has put the equivalent of 300 more officers on the street, department officials said.

Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker said, however, that another $2.3 million in overtime money may be needed by June 30 to keep the special task forces at maximum strength.

The 150-officer increase was approved on an 11-1 vote and sent to Mayor Tom Bradley for his signature. The mayor, who is in West Germany with Los Angeles airport officials, has not taken a position on the proposed increase, a spokesman said.

Death in Westwood

The council action comes less than two weeks after the shooting death of Karen Toshima of Long Beach on a Westwood Village street. In the wake of her death, increased police patrols have blanketed the area.

The police response to the Toshima slaying also spotlighted the issue of officer deployment in less affluent areas of the city. Chief Daryl F. Gates assured council members last week that no area receives preferential treatment, but it was clear from Tuesday’s council debate that much of the public remain unconvinced.

Councilman Robert Farrell, who represents South-Central Los Angeles, said Tuesday the increased force would “perhaps be the most constructive signal to send out to people in the community.”

Councilwoman Gloria Molina said that once the new officers are on board, “the community must be assured that they are getting a fair share of that protection. What my community wants is police officers out on the streets, not a police officer running a computer somewhere.”

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the Westwood area, co-sponsored the 150-officer increase only days before the Toshima shooting. A probable candidate in next year’s mayoral election, Yaroslavsky has also proposed that by 1991 the department’s authorized strength be raised to 8,000 officers. Last year, Yaroslavsky sponsored a successful drive to increase the force by 250 officers to its current strength of 7,350.

Call for Commitment

“If there is anything we learned from the experience of (the Toshima slaying) is that what this city needs right now is more police officers--more police officers in every community in this city,” Yaroslavsky said. “The only way we can get more police officers in every community is to commit to hire them.”

Yaroslavsky, however, bitterly fought the hiring of two new deputy chiefs, which officials estimated would cost $250,000 each.

“Members of the council . . . (the people) don’t want you to pay a quarter-million dollars to hire someone who is going to sit in Parker Center,” Yaroslavsky said. “They want you to hire someone who will sit in a patrol car and who’s going to patrol the streets and who’s going to respond to crime and who’s going to be available when you dial 911. If you want to go on some spending orgy for deputy chiefs, I don’t want any part of it.”

The subsequent 7-5 vote that would have authorized the two deputy chiefs fell one short of the votes needed for passage. The motion’s author, Councilman Nate Holden, reintroduced the proposal at the end of the meeting and it was referred to the council’s Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee.

While most council members supported the 150-officer increase, some lamented the circumstances, such as the Westwood shooting, that they felt motivated the vote.

“Maybe it takes problems like the type of things we’ve been having, the type of violence we’ve been having in the city, unfortunately, to get the attention of this council,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, a longtime proponent of increased police spending. “But I’ll take it any way I can get it.”

The 150-officer increase is in addition to an increase of 250 that was authorized last year by the council and Bradley. Most of those new officers are still in training at the Police Academy, Deputy Chief William Rathburn told the council.

Since 1973, when the LAPD was at a strength of 7,459, the department’s sworn force has steadily declined in numbers as hundreds of mostly clerical jobs once performed by officers were shifted to civilians.