We Have Found the Way, Now We Need the Will : LAPD: The proposed salary increase won’t limit the number of new hires.

For two years, Los Angeles police officers have worked without a contract. Today, the City Council will consider a long-awaited contract with the Police Protective League. This important opportunity has been carved out of roller-coaster negotiations, haunted by strident police-union tactics and an antiquated “business as usual” system for solving labor disputes. LAPD officers deserve the raise this contract offers, and the council should swiftly adopt it.

When I became mayor last July, city government faced its worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, threatened by an estimated $200-million shortfall and a flat economy. Yet with a safer city the No. 1 priority, my administration has stubbornly focused on this goal, injecting innovation and belt-tightening in city operations to do so. The City Council embraced my core initiatives with few modifications. The result of our teamwork will be a significant increase in our police force--the equivalent of more than 1,000 full-time officers in the coming year--as well as the new equipment our police need to do their jobs, advances in Christopher Commission reforms, more community-based anti-graffiti programs, more programs for vulnerable youth.

But these important steps are not sufficient; a meaningful salary increase and patrol bonus for officers is needed. Over the years, LAPD compensation has lagged behind packages offered by other local law-enforcement agencies. Even with the base-pay increases proposed, Los Angeles officers will be paid between 10% and 20% less than deputy sheriffs. LAPD officers on patrol now get no incentives for their tough work on the streets.

The salary increase the council will consider today will have no effect on the number of new hires. The increase will be financed by money already approved and from a police-overtime account for the coming year, rather than by a counterproductive tax increase or cut in services. By improving morale, decreasing attrition and collecting on the investment taxpayers have already made in trained officers, our police force will be more efficient and city residents and businesses will benefit. This is a balanced approach, built on common sense, which wisely diversifies the city’s investment in public-safety resources.

There is no doubt that the “stretch budget” on which the police salary increase is based will require discipline and continued teamwork to reach our goals. Given state budget difficulties and other revenue uncertainties, some people question whether the city can afford this salary increase. We cannot afford not to. A safe city is the best welcome mat we can put out for the job-creating businesses we need.

This new contract also completes a year of great progress toward a safer city: We will have 383 new patrol cars with more on the way, a new police academy in Westchester with the capacity for large classes of recruits and increased resident involvement in crime-fighting.

The council’s approval of this police salary increase will be a fitting cap to these important strides. We have found the ways. All that is needed today is the will.