CONSENT DECREE, JAIL CLOSURES SLOW POLICE.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

A number of factors are responsible for LAPD's lengthening emergency response times, from the extra work required to comply with the federal consent decree to the closure of local jails, police union officials said Thursday.

A city report released last week by the city administrative officer that examined the efficiency of the compressed work schedules for Los Angeles Police Department officers noted that response time has been creeping up for the past few years, and now averages more than 10 minutes per call citywide.

The LAPD's ideal response time is 7 minutes, officials have said, but they emphasize they need a larger police force to achieve that goal.

Response time in the San Fernando Valley, with its larger geographic areas, is the highest in the city, at an average of 11.2 minutes this year, with some parts of the Valley seeing 12-minute response times. Among the other factors contributing to this increase, as identified by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, are an increase in arrests, which involve much paperwork; increase traffic; and the redeployment of officers to high-crime areas, terrorist targets and special units.

``While we know that additional research into the exact causes for increased response times is critical, we believe there are several factors that may be contributing to the increased times,'' said Bob Baker, president of the PPL.

Further, PPL officials are calling for the department to address some of those issues by installing video cameras in all patrol cars for consent decree compliance, reopening local jails or at least hiring someone at each division to handle bookings, and lifting the civilian hiring freeze.

Mariel Garza, [phone]

mariel.garza(at)dailynews.com