Task Force Proposed to Study New Phone Number for Police
A proposal to designate 311 as a nonemergency police phone number took a small step forward Monday as the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee advocated the formation of a task force to study the idea.
Funding for the task force has not been set, however, and it will not meet until reports on the plan from participating city departments have been received by the council committee, which is expected to happen in mid-May.
Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposed budget, announced Friday, includes $217,000 in funding for the first year of the program. Councilman Mike Feuer, in consultation with the LAPD, estimated the first-year start-up cost at $294,000. Riordan spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez acknowledged the budgetary mismatch but said the mayor is optimistic it won’t prove to be a stumbling block.
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