Mayor Plans to Claim Police Force Milestone

When the latest class of recruits enters the training academy in Westchester on Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan will be able to claim an important milestone--3,000 new police officers hired since he took office in mid-1993.

“In three years, we have increased the force to its largest number in history, and we’ve also made tremendous strides in turning around years of neglect,” by adding new equipment and other resources, the mayor said in a statement Monday.

But the statement--issued a week ahead of a planned celebratory news conference after Riordan prematurely announced the milestone on public television station KCET’s “Life and Times” program over the weekend--is not likely to end the debate over whether he actually fulfilled his campaign promise.

When making his first bid for public office four years ago, Riordan promised to add 3,000 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department or not seek reelection.

The force stood at 7,600 when Riordan took office. But Riordan had not counted on attrition--seasoned officers were retiring or quitting to take jobs elsewhere-- even as the hiring proceeded at breakneck pace. At the start of September, the police force stood at 9,022.

Critics have said that Riordan led the public to expect a net gain of 3,000 officers. But the mayor has insisted he only promised to “recruit, train and deploy 3,000 officers.”

On Monday, Riordan cited other accomplishments as proof he was doing all he could to beef up the department, including adding a second training academy, providing new police vehicles and other equipment, making crime lab improvements, adding a privately-financed computer system and opening 110 community service centers for officers to use in the field.