Council Panel Opposes Merger of Transit Police With LAPD

Citing costs and logistics problems, a Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Monday against merging the transit officers who patrol the rail and bus lines with the city’s Police Department.

At the request of Councilwoman Laura Chick, the Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to oppose the merger and to instruct police officials to halt all merger negotiations.

Chick said the LAPD is short of funds and already faces the daunting task of fighting crime in the nation’s second-largest city. Therefore, she said, the department cannot take on the task of policing the rail and bus lines.

Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Willie Williams have supported the merger, saying it would increase security on the nation’s most crowded bus system.

But critics have argued that Riordan supports the merger only so he can claim credit for expanding the Police Department by taking in the MTA’s 383-officer force, the state’s 10th largest police department.

The entire City Council is expected to consider the merger after Thanksgiving.