Karen Bass urges city council to approve $4.4M for LAPD hiring or face January freeze

Top cop urges LA to approve $4.4M staffing boost

Police Chief Jim McDonnell is urging the City of Los Angeles to approve the proposed $4.4 million package that addresses McDonnell's department's staffing crisis.

LOS ANGELES - LA Mayor Karen Bass is calling on the city council to increase the LAPD's funds for hiring. 

What we know:

The mayor sent a letter to the city council urging them to prioritize the safety of Angelenos by allocating $4.4 million to the Los Angeles Police Department so they can hire additional officers. 

Bass says the funding will allow LAPD to hire 410 officers for this fiscal year ending in June 2026. She stated that without the funding, LAPD will stop hiring in January. 

"Stopping the hiring of new police officers will have drastic and lasting consequences for our city. It will mean no new cadets in the police academy in January of 2026. It will mean increasing overtime hours and costs as fewer officers will have greater workloads. It will mean that we strain officers’ health with longer shifts and more responsibility. The second largest city in the United States cannot have an effective police department with 8,300 officers – levels not seen since 1995," her letter to the council read. 

"When I signed the budget, I secured an agreement with City Council leadership to identify additional funding to restore officer hiring. I have spent the last three years working on reforming the hiring process for LAPD recruits, and we have made lasting change. I have made leadership changes at both the Personnel and Police Departments, and I issued Executive Directive No. 14, Modernizing the Officer Hiring Process to Grow the Police Department, to codify the changes. LAPD has received a record number of applicants and our December recruitment class has 56 cadets, recruitment not seen since before the pandemic," the letter stated. 

Her letter said that while the city of Los Angeles is the largest city geographically in the US and the second-largest city in the US in terms of population, the LAPD currently has about two officers for every 1,000 residents.

She reiterated that her goal is to effectively keep residents safe, especially with the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to LA. 

LAPD chief, union echo mayor's concerns 

What they're saying:

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the department is facing a staffing crisis unlike anything Los Angeles has seen in decades. He warns the department is already down more than 1,400 officers and it’s projected to lose at least 550 more this year through retirements and resignations. Without new funding, McDonnell says the department would be forced to halt academy classes for the rest of the fiscal year. 

"Public safety is the most vital service we provide as a city, and we can’t afford to fall behind any further," the chief said Thursday. 

The Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the union that represents officers, supported Bass' plan by saying, "Mayor Bass is right, the City Council should fund the hiring of police officers and put the safety of Angelenos above all else. It is completely unacceptable to inform 56 police recruits who have spent the last year going through an extensive and costly background process by the LAPD that their January academy class is canceled. Officers on the street need to know that when they call for back-up, there will be other officers to respond, and residents need to know that when they call 911, police officers will be there for them."

Where will the funds come from?

The other side:

Earlier this week, the City Council's five-member Budget and Finance Committee met, where they discussed the second financial status report. It was also the first time the committee heard a cost estimate for LAPD's additional hiring. According to the office of Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the council’s budget committee, the only funding option presented was the Reserve Fund, which they say "cannot be used for ongoing expenses under the City’s financial policies."

Yaroslavsky's office sent FOX 11 the following statement, "Our job is to keep the city safe. We also have a responsibility to keep it solvent. I want to grow the police department, but I have yet to see a proposal that identifies an ongoing funding source to pay for more officers. Responsible leadership means telling the truth about our finances and insisting on a real plan to pay for new commitments. I will support this proposal once a real proposal exists."

City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo reported the annual cost for additional officers would be closer to $24 million. The initial $4.4 million would serve as partial-cost for hiring mid-year. If the department reaches 480 new recruits, the cost increases more than $6 million for hiring mid-year, and approximately $33.5 million for annual, ongoing, spending.

Szabo confirmed there has not been a formal report issued to the committee identifying funds for additional hiring. The committee instructed Szabo to return to them in January with options for ongoing funding sources that do not rely on the Reserve Fund or cuts to core services.