Police Chief on the Lookout for More Officers : Hawthorne: A ballot measure for a tax pay for more police failed once. The department’s top man is trying to drum up support for a second vote.

Hawthorne Police Chief Stephen Port says he is not one to repeat mistakes.

About two years ago, when the city wanted to hire 19 additional police officers, the City Council put a measure on the ballot to raise taxes to pay for the officers.

But, Port said, the city did not take enough time to promote and explain the measure, and it was overwhelmingly rejected.

Now, with the city reeling from a 19.5% increase in serious crimes in the last year, Port has been meeting with residents to discuss the possibility of another police tax vote.

Port said he hopes the meetings will spare the city another defeat. City officials have no specific proposal for an increase, but Port hopes residents will have some suggestions.

The chief said he would like to add 30 to 40 officers to the 83-member force, at a cost of $2.3 million to $2.9 million. The officers are needed, he said, to combat the growing influence of gangs and drugs, which have contributed to an increase in reported robberies, assaults, larceny, vehicle thefts, murders, rapes and burglaries.

He said the Police Department is understaffed, with 1.3 officers for every 1,000 residents. Port said 40 more officers would raise that number to two officers for every 1,000 residents, a ratio he said most neighboring cities achieve or approach. In the city of Los Angeles, the ratio is 2.1.

The first of five public hearings was held Thursday night at Wiseburn Intermediate School. Port told about 30 residents that the city cannot afford the additional officers without a tax increase and asked for suggestions on how the tax can be levied.

Most of those who spoke supported the idea of more officers and had suggestions on how to pay for them.

A man who has lived in Hawthorne for 32 years said that more officers are needed and that the money to pay for them should come from developers who build apartment complexes in the city.

He said he believes that much of the crime in the city originates in neighborhoods with densely populated apartment buildings. Port agreed, saying that 25% of the calls to the his department come from Moneta Gardens, a neighborhood in the southeast area of the city heavily developed with apartment buildings.

A young man said he would support a parcel tax requiring each landowner to pay an equal amount. Port said a such a tax would require landowners to pay no more than $200 per year.

Another man asked what the city would do if a tax measure were defeated. Port said the city would continue to operate with the same number of officers, although response time and other police services would continue to suffer.

If a measure is approved, Port said he will put most of the new officers on regular patrol duty. He said his officers are so overworked that they spend most of their time rushing from one crime call to another.

The deadline for submitting a measure for the June ballot is March 9.

The remaining hearings will be held at 7:30 p.m. on these days and at these locations:

* Tuesday at York School, 11838 S. York Ave.

* Thursday at Eucalyptus School, 12044 S. Eucalyptus Ave.

* Feb. 21 at Jefferson School, 4091 W. 139th St.

* Feb. 22 at Zela Davis School, 13435 S. Yukon Ave.