Letters to the Editor: If the LAPD doesn’t want cuts, it should give up its pay raises

To the editor: In the face of an unprecedented financial crisis, the city contemplated laying off nearly 1,000 LAPD officers and more than 700 civilian support staff, leaving Los Angeles with its smallest force in 25 years. A City Council committee went on to endorse smaller cuts to the LAPD.

Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, griped that politicians are pursuing staff cuts during a “shooting and homicide epidemic.”

Lally has it backward. The union still insists on a 3.25% pay raise next month followed by an additional 3% increase in 2022, despite a lethal, budget-busting pandemic. These increases were indefensible when the city first agreed to them. Now they are simply ludicrous.

If the union truly has the interests of its own membership at heart, it will embrace austerity measures that keep officers on the payroll. If the union is truly invested in the larger community, it will bite the bullet and keep more officers on the streets — to protect and to serve.

Shelley Wagers, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I find it absolutely insane that our city leaders would agree to laying off police officers. With violent crime, homelessness and unemployment on the rise in Los Angeles, the city should be adding officers, not removing them.

It is going to be almost impossible for LAPD Chief Michel Moore to do his job effectively without the support of our city leaders.

I have had the pleasure of working with Moore as a member of the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs. I saw firsthand his commitment to this city and his desire to keep us all safe.

Moore’s experience and knowledge make him the best chief of police this city has had, and it would be a disaster to lose him.

Aaron Baker, Sherwood Forest