LOS ANGELES : Council OKs Mayor’s Plan to Beef Up Police Patrols

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Mayor Richard Riordan’s plan to increase the number of officers patrolling the city by nearly 50% in the first six months of 1994.

About two-thirds of the nearly $26 million for the police buildup came from savings the Police Department made in the last year, when it fell several hundred officers below authorized staffing of 7,900. The final one-third of the funding will come from the half-cent sales tax approved by voters for public safety in November and from city reserve accounts.

The money will be used to pay officers to work more overtime and days off. Enough extra pay will be available to put the equivalent of 501 patrol officers on the street during a 24-hour period, in addition to the average of 1,050 already on the streets.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams said that in anticipation of the council vote, some of the extra deployment has already begun, with the addition of foot patrols in all of the Police Department’s 18 regions. More patrols will be added in high-crime areas in the coming weeks, Williams said.

“This is a great victory for the citizens of Los Angeles,” Riordan said. “This is a big ‘step one.’ We have in front of us years two, three, four and five of ‘project safety Los Angeles.’ We have to move ahead for the safety of Los Angeles.”

Council members praised Riordan and Williams for putting more police on the street immediately, but several also said the city will have much more trouble finding the $90 million needed to keep the buildup going beyond July 1.