Council OKs Adding 6 to Police Commission Staff, Doubling Its Size

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday unanimously approved a proposal to double the size of the Police Commission’s staff so it can better investigate citizen complaints and conduct audits of the Los Angeles Police Department’s operations.

The $250,000 needed for the new positions requested by the commission--three management analysts, one personnel analyst and two clerk typists--will come from Police Department salary savings, according to a report prepared by the city administrative officer.

The five-member Police Commission, which is appointed by the mayor and sets department policy, now relies on a commanding officer, an executive officer and two analysts. The Christopher Commission determined that the staff was too small to handle grievances and tackle such issues as discipline, the department’s use of force and the budget.

“I think this is quite a relief,” Police Commissioner Jesse A. Brewer said after the vote. “The current staff is really overworked.”

Brewer said he and at least two other commissioners have been working “50 to 60 hours a week” to help the staff keep up with the “minutiae” for which the commission is responsible, including permits for massage parlors or dance halls.

Little time is left, he said, for more weighty duties such as helping the 8,200-officer department expand its community-based policing programs, which was a key recommendation in the Christopher Commission’s report for improving policing.

The Christopher Commission also recommended the addition of a high-level position of Police Commission chief of staff, which requires an amendment to the City Charter. Such an amendment is expected to be put before voters in the June 2 election, city officials said.