Bratton to Make Last Appeal
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 2:54 PM PDT
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As Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa looks on, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Bill Bratton announces that he will resign from the department to head of a private security firm.
Outgoing police Chief Bill Bratton will appeal to the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday to keep the lawmaking body from cutting funding for new police officers.
For years, mayors and police chiefs have been working to swell the department to 10,000 officers -- about where it stands now -- and Bratton is concerned a hiring freeze will undo much of what he has accomplished during his seven years in Los Angeles.
The council, however, is scheduled to consider a hiring freeze through the end of the year to help close a $405 million budget gap. That could shrink the department by about 300 officers by end of the fiscal year, June 30.
