Reform May Cost Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Official Says

Although no one knows the final cost of reforming the Los Angeles Police Department, the city’s chief legislative analyst estimates that it will take an initial outlay of $20 million to $40 million and cost an additional $30 million to $50 million each year after that.

That cost is on top of an estimated $125 million needed to settle nearly 200 lawsuits and claims against the city by people who say they were victims of rogue LAPD officers from the Rampart Division.

The bulk of the reform costs will come from the recently crafted consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. Some of those measures duplicate recommendations issued Thursday by the Rampart Independent Review Panel.

To put it into prospective, the city spends $80 million a year to run its libraries, said Ronald F. Deaton, the chief legislative analyst. “We are going to do it in the most cost-effective way we can,” he said of police reform.

Complicating matters, the city must seek voter approval of reforms that require amending the City Charter, which could take as long as a year. One expensive reform proposal is to make the presidency and vice presidency of the Police Commission full-time, paid positions.

In addition, the city is required to confer with the police union on any issue that involves working conditions and discipline procedures. Union lawyers have already filed a lawsuit to try to block implementation of reforms in the federal consent decree.

Besides the fiscal obstacles are the political ones.

The mayor and the council need to muster the will to put LAPD reforms into place. Mayor Richard Riordan was reluctant to embrace the consent decree, and others say he is not likely to maintain much enthusiasm for the panel’s recommendations issued Thursday.

As a result, political observers say, the future of the LAPD and its reform could rest largely in the hands of the next mayor, who will take office next year.

“History has shown us that the LAPD is tremendously resistant to change,” said legal expert Erwin Chemerinsky, who recently conducted his own study of LAPD reform. “Most of all it’s going to take the will of the council and the new mayor to push for police reform.”

In a prepared statement, Riordan--who has seven months left in office--said, “It’s now time to take action on these pressing items, and I will encourage the Police Commission to do just that.”

Council members also said they are anxious to push forward.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who leads the Public Safety Committee, said reforms “can be done by the City Council in an ordinance, some by charter change and some by policy direction and change within the department.”

Councilman Mike Feuer, who heads the budget committee, said he is trying to find out how much the reforms will cost.

Several weeks ago, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks sent a memo to Feuer indicating that the combined effects of attrition, the transfer of officers from patrol duties to community relations and the consent decree could cost taxpayers an additional $50 million a year. The LAPD has a $1.2-billion annual budget.

David Sklansky, special counsel to the Independent Review Panel, estimated that the two full-time commission posts would cost the city about $400,000 a year.

The panel did not figure out how much the other reforms would cost, he said, but he added: “It’ll be . . . cheaper than not doing it.”

Although the reforms will be expensive, some council members say the city has a moral duty to implement them. “There is obviously continuing urgency to accomplish police reform in this city,” Feuer said.

He added that the city is seeking federal funds to help implement the consent decree, which was filed Nov. 3 in federal court.

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas is skeptical about the city’s resolve. “I’m not persuaded that enough people are of the opinion that things are as serious or as severe as some of us think they are,” he said.