Tax Measure to Strengthen LAPD

In response to your editorial, “Another Chance Against Crime” Jan. 14:

Shame on The Times for trying to gain a political advantage from the tragic death of a 12-year-old. The April ballot measure to increase property taxes offers little or nothing to stop such a random, senseless, motiveless gang shooting.

My vote against the ballot measure was not “curious,” but was a sound conclusion based on the facts. Do we need more police officers on the streets? Of course. Could we put more officers on the streets today without a tax increase? Absolutely.

The sad truth is that the city is failing to fully utilize either the police officers already on the payroll or the funds we provide the Los Angeles Police Department. Until we rectify that, it is irresponsible for us to ask taxpayers for more.

The findings of the Webster Commission underscored the problem. The report noted: “Compared to other major police departments around the country, the LAPD would appear to be relatively well-supported and staffed. There is a substantial question, however, as to how well the department has used its resources.”

The commission found that on any given day in 1992, around the time of the riots, no more than 350 officers, or slightly more than 4% of the sworn officers in the department, actually turned out for street patrol during their watch.

What caused the thin blue line to shrink so much? One big cause is the mayor and City Council’s penny-wise, pound-foolish policy on how much money we provide to pay for LAPD overtime. Each year we provide money to pay cash for only 15% to 20% of the millions of overtime hours patrol officers work. That means that we require officers to take time off for 80% of the overtime they work.

We could return 900 to 1,000 officers to street duty today, by paying them for overtime worked, for about half the cost of recruiting and training 1,000 rookies, as proposed in the ballot measure. The money to do that is available in the budget.

ERNANI BERNARDI

Councilman, 7th District