Holden Offers Plan for LAPD : Law enforcement: The councilman details 10 proposals for stemming officer departures, but fails to explain how the city would pay for them.

City Councilman Nate Holden, scrambling to dam a flood of departures from the Los Angeles Police Department, on Monday detailed a plan to prevent officers from leaving the force but didn’t explain how the city would pay for it.

Holden said he will ask the City Council to back his 10 recommendations, which call on the LAPD to maintain an “employee friendly” environment, hold all employees to one standard of conduct, increase wages and benefits and offer an around-the-clock child care program.

“We may not get everything overnight,” said Holden, appearing at a news conference with leaders of the Police Protective League, the union of rank-and-file officers. “The police officers need to know we’re on their side.”

League leaders say the city has been dragging its feet in trying to stem LAPD attrition. They oppose a plan by the civilian Police Commission demanding that officers who leave the force after serving less than five years reimburse the city for the cost of their training.

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But Holden’s recommendations may not have strong backing in the council. Marvin Braude, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said few of Holden’s ideas are new. Braude said he wanted to wait for Mayor Richard Riordan to propose ways to stem the departures before taking action. He said the city would probably have to boost spending for the LAPD to stop the outflow of officers.

“The council will have to bite the bullet,” he said.

Braude said he planned to meet with Police Chief Willie L. Williams to discuss the mounting attrition problem, among other issues.

The rising number of departures is undercutting the department’s efforts to beef up its ranks to meet goals set by Riordan’s public safety plan. That plan assumed the LAPD would grow to 8,410 officers by the end of June, but the force fell 215 officers short of that target.

LAPD data shows 474 officers left the department in the past fiscal year, up from 380 officers the previous fiscal year. Of the officers who left in 1994, 77 took jobs at other law enforcement agencies, mostly within California.

Holden’s plan includes several measures to improve the LAPD’s recruiting, such as signing bonuses and accelerated processing for officers who transfer from other law enforcement agencies.

Holden released a report explaining why each of the officers quit the force. About half cited a desire for a “better” environment. Many also listed salary and benefits increases at other departments.