Another Chance Against Crime : L.A. voters will again consider a small tax increase that would strengthen the LAPD

The voters of Los Angeles will get a second chance to expand their undersized police force. They will be asked again, probably on the April ballot, to increase property taxes slightly to pay for 1,000 additional cops. The need is certainly great.

In better times, the city could pay for the additional police. But the current budget can’t cover everything this city needs. Most voters understand that; 63% supported an identical proposal in November. However, that margin fell short of the difficult two-thirds needed for passage. Despite that defeat, a majority of the City Council, led by Councilman Marvin Braude, is willing to try again.

Curiously, council members Joan Milke Flores, Hal Bernson and Ernani Bernardi voted against the ballot measure. Doesn’t Watts, a notoriously high-crime area, need more police? It’s in Flores’ council district. Doesn’t Pacoima, the recent scene of a gang shooting that killed a 12-year-old girl, need more police? It’s part of Bernardi’s district. Don’t Northridge, Granada Hills and other communities represented by Bernson--and plagued by a rash of follow-home robberies--need more cops?

There are many reasons to vote “yes.” No one has forgotten how important law enforcement is when order breaks down, as it did during last year’s riots.

With or without riots, the LAPD needs more officers. It is impossible for a force of about 7,700 to protect and serve a city this size. Both Chicago and Detroit, which are smaller than Los Angeles, have twice the number of police officers.

It is very difficult to expect Chief Willie L. Williams to develop an effective community policing strategy without more members on the force. Realistically, the chief needs 10,000 police officers. And he has promised to put additional officers on patrol instead of closeting them in offices or putting them on special assignments.

While homicide statistics dropped last year in New York, Washington and the other murder capitals of the nation, Los Angeles received no such relief. The local murder statistics continued the upward spiral. Those numbers are just another of the many reasons that this city needs more police officers.

There is no shortage of criminals, no shortage of guns. There shouldn’t be a shortage of cops, either. The majority of the City Council is on the right track. Now those who support greater public safety must persuade two-thirds of the voters to support more police.