LAPD moves 350 officers from specialized units to patrol duty in response to budget cuts

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday that cuts to the department's overtime would force him to move 350 officers from specialized units to patrol duty around the city

About 170 officers have already been moved from the Metro, Gang and Narcotics units, Beck said at his monthly press availability at Parker Center. An additional 180 will be moved in the coming months as part of a second wave of transfers to fill the ranks.

Beck said the cuts to the specialized units were necessary because for every hour that an officer draws overtime the department must give that same officer 1.5 hours off. That amounts to nearly 8% cut in the workforce.

"We are robbing Peter to pay Paul," Beck said.  

Through Feb. 13, serious crime in Los Angeles this year fell by more than 10%. But when asked whether he would set crime reduction goal for this year, Beck declined.

"I'm reluctant to set one at this point," Beck said. "I don't want to set a goal that is unattainable."

When asked whether the LAPD should stop hiring more officers as some have suggested, Beck said the department was simply trying to keep up with attrition and that further decreases could severely hurt law enforcement activities.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Police Chief Charlie Beck in a file photo. Credit: Los Angeles Times

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Comments

[Eric M. Washington]

Lets see crime is down, but my budget has been cut, I have to move many of the personnel the are responsible to the reduction. Now its is only a matter of time before the crime stats are reported to be up again. Which will mean that I must have more money.

Have we seen anything like this in the past?

[Mark]

Pick the local paper in any city in the country and you will see an article on how firemen's and policemen's pension benefits are bankrupting that city or municipality, along with discussions of the layoffs and higher taxes that are going to be imposed to deal with it. The police really did "Rob Peter to pay Paul" in that policemen up until now have lived high on the hog at the expense of future policemen, of whom there will be fewer and they will have lower compensation.
Police and fire chiefs all across the country are fighting compensation cuts, pension cuts and layoffs with these veiled threats of disastrous consequences to public safety.

[Tom Kirk]

Chief Beck, as any Chief of Police at this point in time, is limited by the severe Los Angeles City budget deficit. He has no doubt reviewed all posible ways to continue to ensure the safety of the citizens of Los Angeles. There are no "good" answers when your budget is severly cut. There are only ways to limit the hurt. That is today's reality. He has a much tougher job than his predicessor. We should all support him and his personnel who will continue to do all they can to negate crime.

[Thomas]

Who aside from a policeman or fireman can get a job, without a college education and retire at 51 years of age with a six figure lifetime pension.

No one! (especially the military)

This is the problem.

[Concerned Citizen]

Mark, LAPD officers contribute 8% of their salary to their pension. We have to work until 50 to collect about between 55% to 60% of our base pay. We can max out at 90% after 33 years....actuary studies have shown that an average police officer doing 30 yrs dies 5 years after his retirement, basically not touching the City's money so stop with the generalization and learn the facts. LAPD has ranked at the bottom for many years in terms of pay and benefits. LAPD's pension was 102% fully vested until the recent meltdown.

[Computer Club]

Crime has gone down because "CompStat" said so..lol. Those of you in law enforcement know the joke.

[scott]

Thomas:

Become a police officer without a college degree? Not today. Now, you need at least a bachelors to compete for a job.

Retire at 51 and collect six figure retirement? Not today. Yes, you can be a police officer at the age of 21, but that is not the norm. When I helped with recruitment and hiring for a orange county police department two years ago, the best age to hire an officer was around 25 to 28 years old. They have some life experience. To get 90% of your salary at retirement, you have to work 30 years.. so, this puts you at 55 to 58 years of age for retirement.

Plus, officers had to chip in 6.8% of their salary for retirement.

Now.. take a 401K for a private job. Make 60K a year at 25.. work 30 years assuming 3% salary increase and contributing 6.8% of your salary with your company matching 50% of that (assuming you do not get promotions along the way.) At 10.3% annual rate of return (averaged from 1979 to 2009), you will retire with 1.4 million dollars. Figure a safe 8% annual rate of return when you retire, that is 112,000 a year interest you can live off of. Your retire with a six figure income.

One reason public officials can achieve a six figure income is that CalPers is well managed. Now they have taken a hit with the market, but it is not as bad as they though it would be. And in four years, they will be back in the black.

[John Q. Public]

This is bull-loney. The special gang units have been punished because of those two cops in Whittier that pistol whipped that innocent dude. Well at least Beck is doing SOMETHING about that! I mean, it's not as good as actually CHARGING those two cops (which has not happened) but it is SOMETHING.

[Tahoedreamer]

IS LAPD still hiring? What is the anticipated attrition of officers over the next couple of years and will this move put the city into a crisis in a few months?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul pretty much sums it up.

[unconcerned citizen]

Those poor police officers have to work until they're 50 before they can collect 55% to 60% of their pay after retiring. Gee, I've been working in the private sector (you know, the people who pay for these rediculous retirement benifits) for 40 years and guess what, my salary isn't guaranteed by anyone after I retire, what a shock, in fact, I won't get anything from anybody once I stop working! How would they like that? Do these guys care about what happens to us after working for 40 years, heck no, then why should I care about what happens to them after they retire? After reading how much some of these guys earn, (some over $250,000 a year after overtime)and what some of these Firemen earn in overtime ($40-50,000 in overtime not uncommon)maybe some of these guys should try what everybody who doesn't work in government does, save the money they earn now and hope that they can survive after they retire. Stop crying about having to move people around to help shore up your own mismanagement of funds, and be glad you even have a job to go to every day!

[Henry]

Thomas,
That may have been a problem (not really) 20 or 30 years ago, as professional jobs moved beyond simply requiring high school diplomas. Go ahead, try and apply today with the LAPD with a high school degree. You'll rank near the bottom of the merit list with all those UCLA and USC and CalState grads who are applying, and receive a nice letter saying thanks but no thanks for your application.

[Hey Thomas, think about it]

If being a police officer (or being in the military) was such a great job for people without a college education, how come people are not beating down the door to get hired. It hard to get people to risk their lives daily.

also, check your facts, you need an associates degree to get hired by LAPD and three years of college to promote.

[Lornaj]

The Mayor said that we all have to feel pain, and it is time for all not just a select few. The money that was paid in OT after the trash bill went up could have been spent on more officers. LAPD decided to use the money on OT instead of more officers. Other people have family also, and their families are important. Maybe LAPD will not have so many law suits, and that will save money also.

[Two Cents]

How about you move more of the officers out of their admin spots, where able bodied officers are doing the equivalent of data entry and clerical type duties? These openings can be filled by some of the clerk typists that are scheduled for layoffs...sounds like it might be a win-win for a few people... Just sayin'....

[Frankie B.]

Move all the lazy people that are hiding in admin jobs and stick them in patrol pushing a black and white around.

[me]

Hey unconcerned citizen? Does your job involve risking your life on a daily basis? Did you have any desire to do a job where this is part of the job description? Exactly. So don't cry when someone who is willing to do that is compensated for doing a job like that. Complain to the city government that negotiated their contracts. Give a little respect to those that do what you would not in order to protect your way of life.

[MeanerMina]

Hey Mark – just because the police and firemen get pensions doesn't mean that's what bringing down the economy. We used to charge corporations higher taxes. That's what changed. Corporations have stopped paying their fair share of taxes but since they own most of the newspapers, of course they're not going to mention it.
Corporations have been making obscene profits at your expense. Get a clue.