The number of LAPD officers has fallen to its lowest level in decades as the city struggles to recruit new officers and retain veterans already eligible for retirement.
The number of officers employed by the LAPD has fallen below 9,000, a staffing level not seen since former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s administration in the 1990s.
Several city officials told NBC’s I-Team that there were 8,967 officers employed as of July 30, well short of Mayor Karen Bass’s goal of 9,500 officers, and about 300 short of what the budget allows. current, approximately 9,300 officers.
Since then, another class has graduated from the LAPD academy, bringing the total number of officers to 8,995, though it will be several months before the newest officers complete field training.
A new academy class started last week at less than half capacity.
“Unfortunately, that academy class will only have 29 recruits,” Chief Michel Moore told the Board of Police Commissioners on July 25. “Our effort is to hire 60 every 4 weeks.”
LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the current number of personnel or how the reduction in available officers was affecting operations.
The Los Angeles police this afternoon gave details of the new cameras with advanced technology, which are installed in their patrol cars.
Officers are voting this week on whether to accept a new 4-year employment contract that promises raises of nearly 20 percent for most officers and a higher starting salary for recruits.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the majority of officers, said last week that it hoped the pay increases would help attract more LAPD candidates.
The Department grew to over 9,000 officers under Riordan, at a time when Riordan and the City Council were united in efforts to try to grow the Department to at least 10,000 officers.
By 2009, the LAPD workforce had expanded to 9,895, when then-Chief Bill Bratton said there were still too few officers for the size and population of the nation’s second-largest city.
