The unions that represent police officers and firefighters endorsed Wendy Greuel for L.A. mayor and on Tuesday, she announced a plan to increase their ranks by the year 2020.
Standing outside the headquarters of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Greuel pledged to increase the Los Angeles Police Department’s ranks to 12,000 officers by 2020. LAPD crossed the 10,000 cops threshold last month when it folded General Services officers into the department. The Greuel campaign also called for hiring about 1,000 paramedics and firefighters to get the Fire Department to 4,000 personnel.
“L.A.’s police officers and firefighters understand that keeping our city safe isn’t just about getting tough on crime. It’s about giving our first responders the resources and technologies they deserve,” Greuel said.
The controller does not support a proposed sales tax increase that Police Chief Charlie Beck says is necessary to avert LAPD layoffs. Instead, Greuel wants to use 20 percent of the city’s revenue growth to hire more cops, firefighters and paramedics. That pencils out to about $24 million a year, assuming 3 percent growth in the budget from existing sales and property taxes. She'd like to place another $6 million a year in a Public Safety Trust Fund for emergencies.
