Gates Wants 450 More Officers; Council Panel Urges Hiring Freeze

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said Tuesday that an additional 450 officers are needed to combat rising crime, but City Council members called for a police hiring freeze to help avert a projected $50-million city budget deficit that they say could lead to citywide layoffs.

Gates warned that he may be forced to eliminate major programs and close some police facilities if the department is required to reduce its budget by 5% to 10% next year, as Mayor Tom Bradley has suggested.

Despite Gates’ proposals, a key City Council committee recommended keeping the LAPD at its current strength of about 8,150 officers--almost 200 below its authorized level.

The Budget and Finance Committee also said the department should be required to justify its manpower needs before filling any vacancies or starting any new classes at the Police Academy, including one scheduled to begin in January with 65 recruits.

The committee recommendations marked a sharp departure from the past when council members tried to insulate police from budget cuts. But committee members said they may have no choice but to trim police spending, which accounts for more than one-third of the city’s $3.9-billion budget.

Council members noted that some city departments may be forced to lay off employees in the face of a projected $50-million to $100-million deficit this year and a projected $135-million deficit for the next fiscal year.

“This is a disastrous situation and the sooner we face up to it the better,” said Budget Committee Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky, who said Gates’ spending proposal “brings new meaning to the word chutzpah. “

Gates was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

But in a four-page budget letter for next fiscal year presented Tuesday to the Police Commission, he spelled out his request for 443 more sworn officers and 220 civilian employees as part of a proposed $629.5-million budget for next fiscal year--an 8.8% increase over the current year.

His projects, Gates said, do not include the elaborate--and costly--measures recommended by the Christopher Commission this summer to reform the Los Angeles Police Department.

“We recognize the current fiscal plight of the city of Los Angeles,” the chief said. But “unless there is a special method developed to finance our needs, the likelihood of obtaining the resources necessary to operate at optimum is remote.”

Gates also addressed the mayor’s suggestion that all departments be prepared to reduce their budget packages by 5% or 10%. “These could not reasonably be accomplished without the elimination of major programs and/or the closure of certain facilities,” the chief said.

He did not elaborate on what programs might be cut, or which or how many police facilities would be shuttered.

Al Beuerlein, who supervises the department’s fiscal operations division, was equally fatalistic about the budget reductions. “It would have a major, negative impact on the Police Department and our ability to deal with crime in the community,” he said.

He noted that many city officials and community leaders are pushing for the reforms suggested by the Christopher Commission, but that programs such as community-based policing and revamping the citizen complaint process could cost “possibly several millions of dollars.”

At City Hall, elected officials were just as adamant about the need to hold costs down.

“The Police Department has been treated disproportionately well,” in recent budgets and now must begin to share some of the cuts, Yaroslavsky said. “It is very unlikely there will be any increase in authorized strength. It will be a miracle to keep the strength at the current level.”

The council may even try to tap unused LAPD funds for other city purposes. On Tuesday, the budget committee moved to freeze about $8 million in the LAPD’s salary account, which accrued because the LAPD has been under its authorized strength so far this year. City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie has recommended that the city take about $5 million of those funds.

But Assistant Chief David Dotson told the committee that Gates wants to use those funds for a variety of other Police Department projects, including the crime analysis unit, the forensic print specialists, bureau of special investigation, the New Year’s Eve gunfire reduction program and a new computer for the anti-terrorist division. Beuerlein said the department also would like to use some excess funds for expenses and increased travel--such as transporting prisoners.