LAPD budget: City Council approves $1M funding proposal for additional hiring

LAPD facing staffing crisis

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $1 million funding proposal for the Los Angeles Police Department, but is it enough to hire additional officers?

LOS ANGELES - About two days after Mayor Karen Bass sent a letter to the city council urging them to allocate $4.4 million to the Los Angeles Police Department so they could hire additional officers, the council approved a $1 million funding proposal. 

What we know:

In a 9-6 vote, the council advanced a proposal introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, to allocate enough dollars to cover additional hiring for the next two months. 

The proposal allows LAPD to continue hiring new recruits while giving council members time to discuss a larger plan to fund more officers while addressing long-term budget concerns, as well as risks to more than 200 specialized civilian LAPD employees.

Council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Heather Hutt, John Lee, Traci Park and Imelda Padilla voted against the plan, opting to support a $4.4 million funding proposal made by Lee.

Bass called the council's decision disappointing. "The City Council ignored our plan for police hiring – a disappointing and short-sighted decision, especially since fewer police officers means more overtime and higher costs for the city. Even after hearing Chief McDonnell’s staffing plan, they picked process over outcomes. The Council asked for more reports – we already know that if we don't hire more officers, 911 responses will be slower, officers’ workloads will increase and fewer trained professionals will be available to respond to crime. This decision risks taking us backward," the mayor said in a statement Friday night. 

How much money is needed to fund LAPD 

By the numbers:

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 a 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 had not been a formal report issued to identify funds for additional hiring prior to this week.

Ultimately, the council approved the $1 million funding plan on the last day before their three-week winter recess begins. On Wednesday, Bass issued a letter to council members requesting them to provide $4.4 million in order for the LAPD to hire a total of 410 officers by the end of summer 2026.

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

She argued that stopping the hiring of new police officers would have "drastic" and "lasting consequences" for the city, such as not having new cadets in the police academy in January, an increase in overtime hours and costs for officers, and strain sworn personnel with longer shifts and more responsibilities.

Council members speak out 

What they're saying:

"Additional hiring adds roughly $24 million to the city structural deficit. On an annual basis, the full cost would be reflected in the mayor's proposed budget, and it cannot be paid for by laying off city workers or reducing essential city services," Yaroslavsky said in her remarks.

"As long as I serve as budget chair, which is a great honor, that approach does not move forward. Public safety is about more than police. It's about fixing street lights so they actually work. It's about repairing sidewalks before they cost us millions in liability payouts, and it's about having enough money to paint our own damn crosswalks and not having rogue volunteers doing it for us, and then getting arrested on the news," Yaroslavsky added.

Most council members supported an increase in LAPD hiring. At the same time, several council members raised concerns about the city's fiscal solvency, noting a projected deficit of $91 million in the coming 2026-27 fiscal year, which may grow.

Council members also criticized the manner in which the issue was presented to them.

"I want to make it clear that, again, it is not about the number of cops. It is a false narrative. When I hear people and I see press releases and stories talking about the Council is deciding how many officers to support," Blumenfield said. "I don't think that's what this is about at all because I'm a maximalist. I want to see us support as many as we can, but I want to do it in a responsible way."

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez emphasized the importance of having a "very comprehensive conversation" around public safety and how dollars are used from top to bottom, and examining the city's priorities.

"And that's not happening. Everything's happening in isolation, and all of a sudden, like boom, we're right here the day before or the day of, and it's political theater," Rodriguez said.

"I get it. I know where I work, but that's just financially prudent when we have to really have thoughtful conversations around the people's money," Rodriguez added.