A Way to Pay for 2,000 New Police

In a rare example of bipartisanship, the Senate has approved an amendment to the federal crime bill that would, among other things, pay for 100,000 new police officers; the House version of the bill would fund far fewer. Whatever the final number, Los Angeles and other under-policed cities in California, including San Diego, need as many of them as the state’s congressional delegation can help them get.

What is so remarkable about this action is the evident comity: Rarely are Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole and Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell on the same side. A refreshing change from gridlock.

The Senate proposal is expected to cost $22 billion, a huge sum given the whopping federal deficit but an appropriate investment in national public safety. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) proposes to use the saving from the Administration’s promised reduction of 250,000 federal employees over the next five years.

The House crime bill, passed earlier, proposes half the Senate amount--50,000 new officers. A joint committee will work out a compromise, and how the new cops will be allocated to localities.

Congress should base the formula on population, ratio of officers to population, rate of violent crime and local efforts to improve public safety. By those criteria, Los Angeles would deserve at least 2,000 of the new police officers.

Los Angeles has one of the lowest ratios of officers to population of any big city--about half the figures of New York and Chicago. With barely 7,600 members, the Los Angeles Police Department is called on to protect 3.4 million people spread over 465 square miles. That’s an impossible task, and that’s why Mayor Richard Riordan rightly made adding officers to the LAPD his first priority. Los Angeles also suffers a high rate of violent crime--residents are 44% more likely to become victims of violent crime than New Yorkers.

It’s notable that Los Angeles instituted police reform in the aftermath of the police beating of Rodney G. King. The superb new chief, Willie L. Williams, and Riordan have crafted a plan to maximize police resources, but they need all possible federal assistance. Getting that help is a worthy chore for our congressional delegation.