LAPD counterterrorism efforts ignite debate

A key committee recommended Monday that the Los Angeles City Council add 44 counterterrorism officers to the LAPD, even as two council members warned the move could strain the department’s ability to fully train and equip patrol officers.

The council’s Public Safety Committee voted 4-0 to fund the homeland security initiative, expected to cost $1.27 million this year, and pay for extensive surveillance activities.

Councilman Dennis Zine, who voted for the initiative, voiced his dismay after learning that the Los Angeles Police Department would pay for the program using money originally earmarked for the purchase of 1,250 new Tasers. And Councilman Greig Smith said he feared the counterterrorism unit would siphon experienced officers who were training the rookies who had recently joined the department.

“I’m very concerned that we’re becoming such a specialized department that we’ve lost focus on what goes on on the streets of our city,” said Smith, a reserve officer with the LAPD.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca argued that the program would help the region’s law enforcement agencies thwart terror attacks.

Council President Eric Garcetti, meanwhile, argued that the initiative would allow some counterterrorism officers to conduct surveillance in neighborhoods hard-hit by gangs.

Garcetti said the Mexican Mafia had a grip on a section of Glassell Park, where new surveillance cameras were ripped out a day after they were installed. “We’re now going to have to have a camera to watch the camera,” he said.

But Zine, a former LAPD sergeant, said the focus on homeland security was shifting resources away from the officers who deal directly with gang crime.

“People say that the patrol officers are the backbone of the department,” he said. “But when you look at what they’re receiving in equipment and personnel, they’re not the backbone. They’re more like the tailbone.”

david.zahniser@latimes.com