30 LAPD Jobs Exempt From Hiring Freeze

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday exempted 30 entry level police positions from a citywide hiring freeze so that the dwindling Police Department can start a new academy class at the end of September, its first since last November.

But the council has yet to act on a request by Police Chief Willie L. Williams for a blanket hiring freeze exemption. Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who heads the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, said Friday it is unlikely that the chief’s proposal will be granted in full because of state and city financial problems.

Williams has asked for the flexibility to fill about 70 vacancies in the department, make long-awaited promotions and name his command staff without having to seek City Council permission for every appointment.

Yaroslavsky said a compromise version--which would grant “most if not all” the exemptions for captains, commanders and deputy chiefs--is more likely to win approval.

“We’re trying to work out some flexibility for the chief on management-level positions but maintain the freeze in the lower levels,” Yaroslavsky said.

Though the Police Department had about 8,300 sworn officers last year, its sworn staff now hovers at about 7,830 because of budget cuts and attrition, including an unusually high number of retirements. Last fiscal year, 329 officers retired compared to fewer than 150 the year before, according to the Personnel Division.

Some police and city officials have blamed the exodus on the Rodney G. King beating and its political repercussions, low morale and the retirement of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. But others have said the retirements coincided with the end of a four-year labor contract that included a cost-of-living increase in pensions, giving veteran officers a big financial incentive to leave before July 1.

The vacancies left by retirements include the department’s three assistant police chiefs, who rank just below chief, as well as many other supervisory positions.

Williams’ proposal, which has yet to officially reach the council, has been under review by the city administrator’s office. The office’s principal analyst, Peter DiCarlo, said Friday that the office’s report was about to be forwarded to the mayor and recommends that the chief receive “most of what he wants for the command level,” but obtain council approval for lower-level hires and promotions.

The 30 recruits approved Friday, whose academy class will begin Sept. 21 and last about six months, will cost the city $775,000.

For the two years before the hiring freeze began, classes of about 100 cadets started about once a month, a department spokesman said.

But Yaroslavsky, who anticipates a budget shortfall of $90 million to $100 million, said the new classes are unlikely “unless there is a sudden infusion of cash into the city’s bank account or someone wants to recommend an increase in taxes or unless people vote for the ballot measure” that would increase property taxes and authorize a bond sale to pay for 1,000 police officers.