HAHN BACKS TAX-HIKE PLAN TO FUND CITY'S COPS.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

GRANADA HILLS - Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn said Monday that he will push for a half-percent sales tax increase in the city for the May 2005 ballot to enlarge the stagnating ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Hahn's announcement came two weeks after City Council members let pass a deadline for placing a tax measure on the March ballot and nearly a month after Los Angeles County voters rejected a tax hike for public safety.

Addressing reporters and a 32-member LAPD recruit class at the Edward M. Davis Training Facility in Granada Hills, Hahn said he would not give up on efforts to expand the 9,095-officer LAPD by asking voters to tax themselves. Either the half-percent increase that lost in the countywide Nov. 2 election or a similar increase in the city of Los Angeles alone would raise enough money to hire more than 1,200 officers, LAPD officials said.

``I think we ought to try again,'' Hahn said. ``We're certainly going to ask the council to consider trying again.

The countywide tax measure failed on Nov. 2 with 60 percent of the vote. It needed two-thirds to pass. In the city of Los Angeles, the measure had support from 64 percent of voters.

Hahn called the 64 percent yes vote in the city a ``mandate'' to attempt another measure.

City Council President Alex Padilla, who played a key role in shelving a city-only tax for the March 2005 ballot, hasn't decided whether he would support another measure in May, said Padilla spokesman David Gershwin.

Councilman Dennis Zine panned the idea.

``I'm not convinced that a city tax will be beneficial,'' Zine said. ``The criminal justice system is not only the police. There are other elements of the criminal justice system that need to be funded besides the police - like the courts.''

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which contributed $500,000 toward passing the countywide measure, supports Hahn's call for another ballot measure, union President Bob Baker said. But Baker said he would have to consult with his union leadership before deciding whether to contribute to a new campaign.

``We're going to support anything that will put more officers on the street,'' Baker said.

The 32-member recruit class that Hahn and Police Chief William Bratton addressed Monday was the first group of recruits to enter the police academy since June. City officials said budget constraints have prevented the LAPD from hiring more officers than needed to balance attrition.

The LAPD is budgeted for 9,244 officers, about half of the per-capita deployment of many large cities, including New York and Chicago, Bratton said.

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Police Chief William Bratton talks to a class of 32 LAPD recruits - slated to graduate in April - at the Edward M. Davis Training Facility in Granada Hills on Monday.

(2) The recruits receive gun training at the Police Department facility during the visit from the mayor and police chief.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer