Bratton Wants Bigger LAPD

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton marked his second anniversary Thursday by calling for a 35% growth in the force, an increase he said was necessary if the city wanted to overcome violent crime and the threat of terrorism.

At a news conference, Bratton touted large reductions in crime during his tenure, but warned in a plan of action that progress would slow without more officers.

“We are a relatively safe city. But for a relatively small investment, we could make it so much more safer,” Bratton said, comparing crime to the flu. “We know how to prevent it. But we cannot afford the vaccine.”

The 140-page document cited the 18% drop in homicides and similar declines in all violent crime since he took office, while stating that the 9,100-officer department has been struggling “to hold off an inferno of criminal activity.”

Without more officers, the plan predicts the department will continue “to make incremental progress against high crime, but it will not be able to suppress fully gang tyranny or provide as strong a shield against terrorist threat that the exposure of Los Angeles as a primary target demands.”

Bratton, joined by Mayor James K. Hahn, urged the passage of Measure A, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would fund 1,260 more Los Angeles Police Department officers.

Bratton’s long-term plan calls for a force of 12,500. The plan also described the department as understaffed and officers as overworked.

“There is very much an urban war in our midst,” the plan created by consultant John Linder warns. “Do the people of Los Angeles want a city where the police may need to carry machine guns to secure people’s safety? This cannot be where we really want to go.”

In the document, Bratton laid out his plans for spending the extra sales tax revenue, if voters approve the measure Tuesday. He wants 750 new officers assigned to 19 area stations, 228 to gang enforcement, 168 to community policing, 64 to narcotics enforcement and 50 to antiterrorism operations.

If city leaders are willing to have more officers, Bratton said he would create a 1,000-officer mobile task force and assign nearly 1,000 more officers to local stations.

With the help of a computerized crime tracking system, the department has reduced homicides by more than 18% in two years and violent crime by 14.4% in 2004. In addition, there have been 23.4% fewer shooting victims since Bratton took office.

At the same time, arrests have gone up 18.7% in two years, and the rate of solving crimes climbed from below 20% to 27.5%. Crime reduction, along with completion of federally mandated LAPD reforms and antiterrorism, have been Bratton’s priorities.

A year before Bratton was hired, the city had conceded that the department had “engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force, false arrests, and unreasonable searches,” and agreed to institute comprehensive reforms by 2006 in the form of a consent decree. All but 22 of more than 150 requirements in the decree are in substantial compliance, according to the report.

A key computer system to monitor problem officers, however, is not working and could force the extension of federal monitoring.

The report noted that investigations into police shootings have also been revamped with the creation of a force investigation division. The department’s internal affairs division also conducts dozens of stings.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said the city must find ways to “build up the Police Department,” regardless of the sales tax rate.

“Let’s set this goal [of having 12,500 officers] and find a way to achieve it, not overnight, but over a long period of time and hold ourselves accountable for reporting and achieving that goal,” Miscikowski said.