Comments
CITY HALL - Los Angeles residents are once again being told that City Hall is investing in public safety.
The new budget includes funding intended to hire 500 police officers, and elected officials will undoubtedly point to that number as evidence that Los Angeles is rebuilding its police force.
But before anyone celebrates, City Hall must answer one basic question:
How many officers will actually be left after retirements, resignations, and other departures are counted?
That is the number that matters.
If Los Angeles hires 500 officers while a similar or greater number leave the department during the same period, the city has not meaningfully increased police staffing. It has merely struggled to replace the officers walking out the door.
That is not growth. That is a revolving door.
Residents should not allow politicians to present replacement hiring as a major public safety expansion.
The difference between a budget announcement and reality became painfully clear to me recently.
I called 911 seeking police assistance in connection with enforcing a court-ordered civil harassment restraining order involving one of my employees. I spent approximately 35 minutes waiting to report the situation. After the report was taken, I waited another two hours before a police car arrived.
By then, the immediate opportunity to intervene and mitigate the situation had passed.
Think about that. This involved a court order and a situation serious enough to require police assistance. Yet help came hours later.
This is not a criticism of the officers who eventually responded. Los Angeles police officers are being asked to do an extraordinarily difficult job while the city struggles to maintain adequate staffing.
The failure is political.
Los Angeles covers more than 400 square miles and has roughly 8,500 sworn officers. But even that number does not tell residents how many officers are actually available to patrol neighborhoods and respond to calls for service.
The total sworn count includes command staff, detectives, specialized units, administrative assignments, officers on light duty, training, vacation, sick leave, and other assignments away from regular patrol.
The number residents experience is not the number printed in a budget document.
It is how long they wait when they call for help. It is whether a patrol car is available when someone is in danger. It is whether officers arrive while a crisis is happening or hours after it is over.
That is the real measure of public safety.
City Hall must stop measuring success by how many positions are funded or how many academy seats are announced. The public deserves to know whether the police force is actually growing and whether more officers are reaching the streets.
Los Angeles residents deserve clear answers: How many officers are expected to retire or otherwise leave the department during the budget year? How many recruits will successfully complete the academy and become deployable officers? What will the net staffing level be at the end of the year? And when will residents see measurable improvements in response times?
These are not partisan questions. They are basic questions of government accountability.
A city budget can authorize positions. It cannot magically put experienced officers on the street.
Recruiting takes time. Training takes time. Academy attrition is real. Retirements and resignations are real. When experienced officers leave faster than replacements can be recruited, trained, and deployed, the public feels the consequences.
The problem with City Hall’s messaging is that it focuses on the biggest number in the press release rather than the final number on the street.
If you hire 500 officers but lose approximately the same number or more, you have not added 500 officers to the force.
The public deserves to know the net number.
Los Angeles taxpayers contribute billions of dollars to city government. In return, they have every right to expect a public safety system capable of answering emergency calls and responding before the emergency is over.
We cannot normalize waiting hours for police assistance. We cannot continue asking fewer officers to do more with less. And we cannot allow hiring announcements to become a substitute for actual results.
Public safety is not a press conference. It is not a campaign mailer. It is not a line in a budget speech.
Public safety is what happens when someone calls for help.
Los Angeles does not need another announcement about how many officers City Hall hopes to hire. It needs enough officers to answer the call, arrive before the crisis is over, and protect the people paying for the system.
Until City Hall can deliver that, the public should not be fooled by the numbers.
(Mihran Kalaydjian is a seasoned public affairs and government relations professional with more than twenty years of experience in legislative affairs, public policy, community relations, and strategic communications. A respected civic leader and education advocate, he has spearheaded numerous academic and community initiatives, shaping dialogue and driving reform in local and regional political forums. His career reflects a steadfast commitment to transparency, accountability, and public service across Los Angeles and beyond.)
(Jay Handal is a veteran community advocate and longtime CityWatch contributor who plays a central role in holding Los Angeles City Hall accountable. He serves as treasurer of the West LA–Sawtelle Neighborhood Council. With decades of grassroots organizing and civic leadership, Jay is a relentless voice for transparency, fiscal reform, and empowering neighborhoods to challenge waste, mismanagement, and backroom decision-making at City Hall.)
