Hahn Vows to Act on Police Shifts

In one of his first acts as mayor-elect, James K. Hahn addressed a meeting of Los Angeles police union delegates in Palm Springs on Friday and renewed his commitment to a compressed work schedule for officers.

Hahn was the keynote speaker during the Police Protective League’s annual delegates meeting. The newly elected mayor thanked the union for its endorsement during the recent mayoral campaign, which he used to help establish his law-and-order credentials among moderate and conservative voters.

The mayor-elect vowed to implement a shorter workweek for police officers “as soon as possible,” including a three-day-a-week, 12-hour shift for officers on patrol and a four-day-a-week, 10-hour shift for detectives. Police Chief Bernard Parks and others have expressed reservations about similar proposals.

And Hahn reiterated his concern about the Los Angeles Police Department’s attrition rate, promising to move quickly to recruit new officers and retain them.

During the campaign, Hahn had promised to implement a shorter workweek for police officers in 90 days, but on Friday, police union directors told him it might be “a little more realistic” to make the change in 120 days, according to one person who attended Friday’s meeting.