City Analyst Backs Off on LAPD Move

To save the city $29 million, the Los Angeles City Council’s top advisor has proposed that the Police Department remain in Parker Center while a new headquarters is built and cancel a planned move to temporary offices.

The proposal by Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton drew immediate criticism Friday from council members and police commissioners, who said police should not have to work another four or five years in an unsafe building.

“It’s criminal,” said Police Commissioner Rick Caruso, adding, of Deaton: “I think it’s time for him to go. He’s outlived his usefulness to the city.”

Deaton’s proposal caught many off guard because he previously had recommended that the city buy the Transamerica Broadway Building to house police while a new headquarters is built near City Hall. Parker Center is being torn down because it lacks modern fire and seismic features and needs a new roof, floors and pipes.

Mayor James K. Hahn endorsed the plan and the council approved it in December.

Hahn said Friday that he agreed with Caruso that the police should be moved into temporary offices.

In a report delivered to the City Council this week, Deaton said the deal still made sense because other city departments paying high lease rates for private office space downtown could be moved into space originally intended for the LAPD.

Deaton, who cited the city’s budget problems in reversing his position, also said it would cost the city less to move those other departments into the building, which would require extensive remodeling to meet the Police Department’s security and communications needs.