Council Panel Lowers Hiring Cap for LAPD

A City Council committee stopped short Tuesday of exempting the Police Department from a citywide hiring freeze, agreeing instead to lower the number of officers that may be signed on over the next six months.

Considered a “reluctant settlement” by the Los Angeles Police Department, the decision by the Budget and Finance Committee will save the city about $2.5 million by dropping the preapproved cap of 8,400 officers for fiscal year 1990-91 to 8,332. The compromise proposal, which must be approved by the City Council, does not exempt the Police Department from the hiring freeze imposed last month by Mayor Tom Bradley, but saves the department from interrupting its recruiting program.

Sgt. Mark Kroeker, a liaison between the Police Department and the City Council, said a disruption in recruiting would signal that the department was not hiring and send potentially qualified candidates elsewhere.