EDITORIAL PUBLIC INSECURITY HAHN'S FLEXIBLE LAPD WORKWEEK COMES AT A STEEP PRICE IN SAFETY.

THE first installment of Mayor James Hahn's political payoff to the Police Protective League, charged to the people of Los Angeles, comes due at the end of the month. The price is steep - even fewer cops on the streets at a time when they are in greater need than ever.

That's the word from the Los Angeles Police Department. LAPD officials report that, in the short term at least, Hahn's new three- or four-day workweek for patrol officers will exacerbate police shortages by 20 percent. The plan is set to take effect at the LAPD's Central and Hollywood stations by month's end, and throughout the city by next summer.

The LAPD is already 250 officers short of its target of keeping cops on patrol for at least 40 percent of their working hours. Once the compressed schedule takes effect, that number will rise to more than 300 for at least as long as it takes to transition all officers to the shortened week.

LAPD Cmdr. Dan Koenig reports that ``response times to emergencies will remain our priority, but there will be less time to be on patrol.''

So at a time when the nation is under constant threat of terrorist attacks, we will have fewer cops on the street to spot trouble and it will take longer to respond if a major catastrophe should occur.

Fewer cops means crime and traffic-collision victims being forced to wait longer, sometimes at great danger, for police support. It means minor incidents turning into full-blown crises because they aren't quickly contained.

And when the number of cops on the street goes down, so, too, does the deterrent effect of a strong police presence. Gang members and other criminals know when no one's minding the store, and that's when they strike.

The timing for the transition couldn't be worse. In the post-Sept. 11 world, cops are routinely called away from their usual patrols to protect suspected terror targets - including a massive force at Los Angeles International Airport - and to respond to a lot of calls that ultimately turn out to be false alarms.

While officers are in short supply for ordinary people, city officials have found a way to protect themselves by hiring their own security staff.

This is not the time to undermine the safety of the public.

Hahn's headlong rush to fulfill his imprudent campaign promises damns the public to second-rate security at a time when danger and fear are high.

This is another sad reminder that in Los Angeles, the public exists to serve the government, and not the other way around.