Mar 25, 2008 5:35 am US/Pacific
Study: LAPD Needs More Cops Patrolling The Streets
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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The report comes as Chief Bratton and Mayor Villaraigosa want to hire 1,000 additional police officers by 2010.
CBS
Hundreds of this city's police officers should be shifted from desk jobs to patrolling the streets, according to a consultant's study.
The Los Angeles Police Department also needs to put more civilians in administrative posts, the study said.
The study released Monday by City Controller Laura Chick identified 565 jobs currently assigned to sworn officers that should be converted to civilian workers.
The department's crime data analysis unit and firearm forensic experts should be switched to civilians, Chick said. She also recommended that civilian employees operate the city's jails.
The report comes as Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa want to hire 1,000 additional police officers by 2010 despite a budget crunch.
"Let's make it perfectly clear, I have no intention, the mayor has no intention, of retreating back from the hiring," Bratton said Monday.
Converting the cited positions to civilian jobs would cost the city about $53 million a year in salaries. But Chick said the move would save the city about $16 million a year long-term.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said decisions about which vacancies to fill would be part of the city's larger budget debate.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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