EDITORIAL\A $1 billion surprise\Report on LAPD's need for more space raises serious questions.LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. came down with a serious case of sticker shock Sticker shock is a United States term for the feeling of surprise experienced by consumers upon finding unexpectedly high prices on the price tags (stickers) of products they are considering purchasing. last week when he received a consultant's draft report on the Police Department's need for more building space. It's no wonder. Consultant Larry Kosmont said that the city will need to spend up to $1 billion over the next 20 years to properly house its growing police department. He recommended, for starters, that the city put a bond issue in the neighborhood of $300 million to $432 million on the November ballot. Riordan promptly challenged Kosmont's recommendations, saying "we have, for example, substations which are only partly occupied." He promised to question the $1 billion estimate "all the way up and down the line." Many taxpayers no doubt feel the same way the mayor does. After all, the voters last June narrowly defeated a $171 million bond issue (it required a two-thirds majority to pass) to build four new police stations, including a long-needed (and promised) sixth station in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . That bond issue was supposed to address essential needs. So why all of a sudden is there a need for a bond issue of as much as $432 million? Here are some responses from the draft report: The city will need an additional 500,000 square feet of space by 1998 to accommodate plans to add more than 2,800 officers to the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. , bringing the department's strength to 10,455 officers. Parker Center Parker Center is the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department, and is located in Downtown LA. It is named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally with the prosaic name, the Police Administration Building, ground for the center was broken on December 30, 1952 should be replaced, since the expense of repairing the run-down downtown headquarters would exceed the cost of a new building. We aren't convinced that it makes sense to build another administrative palace to replace Parker Center. One of the problems with big bureaucracies nearly everywhere is their tendency to grow at the center, at the expense of units in the field that are supposed to get the job done. The mayor and the council, therefore, should take a hard look at the LAPD's administrative structure. If it turns out that more decentralization de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. is in order (and that seems to be the trend these days), the space needs of the LAPD could change as well - and possibly result in significant cost reductions, too. We aren't critical of the decision to make the study; on the contrary, it was the responsible and businesslike busi·ness·like adj. 1. Showing or having characteristics advantageous to or of use in business; methodical and systematic. 2. Purposeful; earnest. 3. way to go. But the study is just the beginning. The mayor and the council now must look beyond the numbers and take a hard look at the assumptions upon which they were based on before reaching a decision on a massive LAPD construction program. If they don't, the already skeptical voters just might say "no" this time around. |
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion