BRATTON KEEPS EYE ON GOALS THIRD-YEAR CHIEF WANTS MORE COPS.

Byline: Jason Kandel and James Nash Staff Writers

Snubbed by voters unwilling to pay more in sales taxes to hire police, William Bratton enters his third year as Los Angeles police chief hobbled in his attempt to dramatically reduce crime at levels he accomplished in New York.

Bratton came to Los Angeles in 2002 with credentials as a turnaround artist. As New York's top cop from 1994 to 1996, Bratton presided over a 39 percent reduction in murders and a 27 percent drop in overall felonies.

And he's on track in Los Angeles to accomplish a significant drop in crime: Murders are down 20 percent compared with two years ago, and overall violent crimes are down 18 percent.

But Bratton says he's squeezed almost every drop of crime-fighting power out of his 9,100-officer force and needs more than 3,000 additional officers to deliver on his promise to make Los Angeles the safest big city in America and cut crime in half.

But the prospects for more money for more police - the secret to his success in New York City - seem dim after Measure A's defeat last week and City Hall's failure to come up with the money.

``We are lucky to have someone who is the finest police professional in America here in Los Angeles,'' said Mayor James Hahn, who acknowledged Bratton's efforts are hamstrung because he doesn't have the ``luxury'' of a big expansion of the LAPD.

``He's made the most of squeezing the most out of what he's got ... We won't be able to fund 3,300 officers (Bratton's goal) by saving paper clips and finding budget efficiencies.''

Still, Bratton, handpicked by Hahn to replace Bernard C. Parks as chief, remains committed to reducing crime whether or not he gets more resources.

``The goal will be as it was in '04 - continuing crime declines in the city and continuing increases in arrests,'' Bratton said in an interview after Measure A's defeat. ``I like numerical goals. We'll be setting a numerical goal.''

Bratton's ability to deliver on those goals will likely come under harsher scrutiny with Hahn facing a tough re-election campaign against Parks and others harshly critical of the mayor's performance.

As an outsider taking the reins of the LAPD after a decade of controversy and criticism, Bratton faced internal resistance as he put in his own management team and reorganized the department.

He's rolled out big crime-fighting initiatives driven by Compstat, the computer-crime tracking system he created in New York. He implemented programs to identify and track parolees convicted of the most violent crimes. He expanded the hours that detectives work, chipped away at staggering case backlogs and implemented a program that helped speed responses to emergencies by an average of 30 percent.

In the year ahead, Bratton hopes to beef up the LAPD's cold-case unit to solve long-ago homicides and to continue his focus on suppressing gang crime.

``(The LAPD) is making more arrests and making good cases,'' said Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley.

Cooley credits the LAPD with helping push up the numbers of case filings at the D.A.'s office.

``(Bratton's) a very dynamic person. There's no moss growing under his feet. He's always thinking. The one thing that he needs is something that's somewhat out of his control - that's additional resources to get the job done.''

Police Commission Vice President Alan Skobin is impressed with what Bratton has been able to accomplish.

``I think the chief has an extraordinary degree of vision and insight in how to maximize resources,'' Skobin said. ``And he's going to get the most out of whatever we give. But we have an obligation to give him the sufficient tools to reduce crime to the degree that he's capable of doing it.''

He also has dealt with his share of controversies.

Faced with racial tensions after a high-profile beating of African- American car-theft suspect Stanley Miller, Bratton immediately set up meetings in the community and brought some of its leaders into the investigative process. That helped keep tensions under control.

The department also had trouble meeting some of the mandates of the federal consent decree, which was put in place to prevent abuses like the case of rogue cops in the Rampart Division.

Bratton settled for a partial victory on another high-profile battle: ending police response to unverified burglar alarms. Under a compromise brokered by City Council members, police continue to respond to as many as two unverified alarms a year at locations.

``He's set pretty high goals,'' said Bob Baker, the president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the rank and file. ``What I always worry about is the fact that we're asking our police officers to do more with less. At some point in time, there's a possibility that the rubber band will pop.''

City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said elected officials remain determined to raise taxes to pump more money into the LAPD, either via a city-only sales tax, a parcel tax or another measure.

Miscikowski said Bratton has won the trust of three crucial constituencies: the public, rank-and-file officers and elected officials.

``The bumps on the road he's been through, he's handled,'' Miscikowski said. ``It hasn't caused him to go off the road.''

Residents are supportive of the chief and believe he will continue to make big cuts in crime.

``I admire the chief for setting high goals and for working with the resources available towards achieving those goals,'' said Sandra Munz, a 40-year Valley resident and supporter of the Senior Lead Officer program.

Page Miller, who works with Munz supporting the SLO program, said Bratton has turned the department around, getting to the core of gang and homicide activity and inspiring the troops.

``With his ability to police 'smart,' he's not a man with one game plan,'' she said. ``He'll have other routes. He'll probably surprise us. I'm confident he'll have other success stories real soon.''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton is entering his third year with fewer cops on the street than he'd hoped, but with a record of reducing crime in the city.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, front, and Sheriff Lee Baca were united in their support for Measure A, but the proposed sales tax hike failed to win enough voter support.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer