The Los Angeles Police Protective League on Wednesday demanded that Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the Rams, pay the full cost for necessary police services to ensure public safety at the team's home games as long as it plays at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
"The estimated cost to provide police protection at Ram games is approximately $2 million a year," LAPPL spokesman Dustin DeRollo said.
"Thus far the Rams have not agreed to pay their fair share of policing costs and this will drain police coverage in other areas of our city," DeRollo said. "The LAPPL is also urging Mayor Eric Garcetti to reject any requests for sweetheart deals funded by the taxpayers for the NFL team."
The temporary location of the Rams in Los Angeles has created a need for more than 200 police officers to ensure adequate safety at every home game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, DeRollo said. A stadium scheduled to open in 2019 is being built for the Rams in Inglewood.
"This comes at a time when the LAPD has critically low staffing levels and the city of Los Angeles has experienced a dramatic increase in violent crime and property crime over the past two years," DeRollo said.
The Rams issued a statement saying the team is "working with the LAPD to find solutions that work for everyone — in fact, we have a few meetings already scheduled with LAPD and USC leadership in the coming weeks."
"'The safety of fans attending our games is a priority and we are appreciative of the great team at LAPD and other agencies that will be part of our game-day security operation for helping ensure a safe environment for our guests."
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LAPD officials said that in addition to meetings with the team and Coliseum representatives, the department has also consulted with the National Football League to discuss security policies.
"Discussions regarding cost-recovery will continue to be part of our ongoing conversations with the Los Angeles Coliseum and Los Angeles Rams," according to the LAPD. "Additionally, the majority of department personnel
utilized for upcoming games will not be from various patrol divisions, minimizing the impact on the other communities of Los Angeles."
The LAPPL union represents the more than 9,900 sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department.
