LAPD's spending irritates council

L.A.'s elected leaders took a dramatic step to cut police spending this year, chopping in half the number of officers that Mayor Karen Bass had been hoping to hire.

- BY DAVID ZAHNISER AND LIBOR JANY

In May, the City Council voted to give the LAPD just enough money to recruit 240 officers this year, down from the 480 requested by Bass. They did so not just to close a $1-billion budget shortfall, but also to prevent other city workers from being laid off.

But on Nov. 4, council members learned that the LAPD is on track to blow way past its budget allocation by adding 410 officers by summer 2026, the end of the fiscal year. That would mean hiring as many as 170 officers who lack funding in this year's budget.

Councilmember Tim McOsker voiced frustration, saying the LAPD's overspending represents "everyone's worst fear about a department running rogue."

"The budget has to mean something," McOsker said during a Budget and Finance Committee meeting.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky was equally irritated. At the meeting, she asked City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo whether his office had identified the funds to hire the 170 extra officers. Szabo, a high-level budget official, said no.