A proposed hiring freeze at the LAPD that could save nearly $4 million over two years is gaining momentum at City Hall and within the ranks of LA's finest.
"You don't hire new officers if you can't afford to pay them," said Police Protective League President Paul Weber in an interview.
Imposing a three-month freeze would save $725,000 for the fiscal year that ends June 30, and more than $3 million next year, said Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana.
Santana's proposal would reduce the number of police officers by 37, from 9,932.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has made beefing up the force a priority, opposes the freeze. He has vowed to add 1,000 officers to the force and is short of that goal.
But the mayor might have a fight on his hands as he and the City Council struggle to bridge a nearly $40 million budget gap for the current year and a shortfall for the coming year that is expected to top $350 million.
The city's Budget and Finance Committee unanimously approved the plan on Monday.
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City Councilman Richard Alarcon said he is open to the temporary freeze in hiring. "I'm not going to say there are no sacred cows," he said. "But even the sacred cuts have to be cut."
The hiring freeze is being billed as a temporary measure, though extending it is also an option, said Weber, whose Los Angeles Police Protective League has nearly 10,000 members. Last year, the city council rejected a similar proposal.
With LA's financial problems likely to get worse, with a predicted deficit that tops half a billion dollars by 2014, a temporary hiring freeze might not be deep enough of a cut, Weber said.
"There needs to be a full discussion on the issue. They need to look five years down the road as opposed to putting a Band-Aid on the problem this year," he said.
"Based on the budget shortfalls, it makes more sense to take a serious look at the hiring of new officers as opposed to hiring them and furloughing them down the road, after the city invests majorly in training them and getting them ready for duty," he said.
Weber also worries that officers may not get pay for overtime in the future if a comprise can't be reached. He hopes that one solution gaining traction in departments around the country might work for Los Angeles.
"It might make more sense for some work better handled by civilians be transferred out of the department," says Weber.
The proposed hiring freeze could bolster the savings realized under the recently approved ballot measure that cuts retirement benefits of new police and firefighters.
The reduction in pension benefits measure for firefighters and police officers will to go into effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year and will save city tax payers $3 billion over the next 30 years.
