Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is calling on the City Council to approve the allocation of $4.4 million to the LAPD’s budget before the end of the week to prevent a hiring freeze.
In a letter sent out Wednesday night, Bass highlights the urgency of the funds to allow the LAPD to hold its January academy class and grow the police force. With the allocation of the additional millions, Bass says the LAPD would be able to hire 410 officers for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.
“It will mean no new cadets in the police academy in January of 2025. 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,” said Bass in the letter. The largest city in the United States cannot have an effective police department with 8,300 officers – levels not seen since 1995,”…