LAPD to Get Federal Grant of $14.6 Million

A day after Los Angeles police brass said detectives sometimes botch homicide cases because they are overworked and swamped with paper, the federal government Wednesday announced a $14.6-million grant that could put 219 more officers on the city’s streets and fund a variety of technology improvements.

The latest infusion of cash from the Clinton administration comes on top of $127 million that the Los Angeles Police Department has received over the past four years to expand its ranks. As in previous instances, Los Angeles will receive the largest of the municipal grants. Nationwide, there are 70 grants, totalling $70 million.

The city plans to use the grant--along with local matching funds--to buy 300 laptop computers and develop a case-tracking system for detectives, create a system enabling officers to file reports from their vehicles and retrieve records online, add a mug-shot imaging system at every police station and expand the city’s 18 crime analysis units to help track trends.

“Once we get all these pieces together, we’ll be miles ahead, technologically, of any other police department in the country,” Mayor Richard Riordan said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

“The money is great to get. The implementation is the hard part,” added Riordan, who last week proposed a high-level technology office at the LAPD to combat what he perceives as a lack of coordination.

The LAPD is one of 12 California law enforcement agencies that will receive grants, according to Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. Justice Department.

In Southern California, Los Angeles County received a total of $3 million for the Sheriff’s Department and the Parks and Recreation Department, the bulk of which will be used for equipment. The San Diego Police Department will get $4.5 million for technology upgrades. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will receive a small grant of $93,607, and the city of Huntington Beach will get $203,995.

Funded under provisions of the 1994 crime bill, the new round of awards brings President Clinton closer to his pledge to add 100,000 police officers nationwide by 2000. Federal officials say the program has so far helped hire or redeploy a total of 54,000 officers, although that includes optimistic estimates of how many people would be freed up through technological improvements.

“Today’s announcement means that more police departments and sheriff’s offices across the country will be able to maximize the use of the highly trained officers already serving their respective jurisdictions,” said Joseph E. Brann, director of Clinton’s Community Oriented Policing Services office, in a written statement.

In Los Angeles, officials plan to use $6 million of the federal money to hire 219 civilians who will take over administrative duties now being performed by sworn officers. That will require an additional $6 million of city money, however, which must be approved by the City Council. The city also must provide a 25% match for the $8.5 million in technology improvements, officials said.

The department also expects to free up the equivalent of 365 more officers by helping the entire force do business more efficiently.

“I expect the L.A. City Council can come up with its share. This grant is key in the ongoing effort to reduce crime in the city,” said Rep Howard Berman (D-Los Angeles). “This grant will enable the LAPD to put more officers on the street.”

News of the grant came hours after the City Council officially accepted another $53-million federal grant to fund the hiring of 710 police officers.

The council has already budgeted matching funds for a portion of that grant to hire 450 officers this year. Wednesday’s vote does not commit the city to hire the remaining 260 officers, but keeps the federal money on tap for the 1997-98 budget cycle if the city does decide to add them.

LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride said the award will not only send additional officers into the field, but also help them “do their job better and faster.”

Police Commission President Raymond C. Fisher said the news is “terrific,” particularly in light of recent consultant reports that named technological shortcomings as a key obstacle to progress at the LAPD.

“There’s no doubt that the LAPD has been starved over the years in terms of technology and capital improvements. We’ve addressed the manpower needs . . . but the support resources for them are well behind the curve,” he said. “You can’t do business in crime fighting these days if you’re behind on technology. . . . It leaves you flat-footed.”

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Upgrading the LAPD

The $14.6-million grant announced Wednesday is the latest in a series of awards from the Clinton Administration that have helped expand and upgrade the Los Angeles Police Department. A sampling:

* $18.3-million technology grant for two years, starting July 1, 1995.

* $3.1 million in funding for 180 civilian positions over two years, starting July 1, 1995.

* $48.2 million to hire 643 police office for three years, starting Sept. 13, 1995.

* $53.25 million to hire 710 additional officers starting July 1, 1996.

* $4 million to hire 54 officers for three years of community policing, starting Dec. 1, 1993.

* $1 million to target gangs, fiscal year 1996-97

* $200,000 for pilot program on domestic violence, fiscal year 1996-97

* $17.7 million for equipment, technology and personnel, for two years starting Oct. 1, 1996.

Source: Mayor’s office on criminal justice planning