INITIATIVE ASKS FOR $2.6 MILLION TO AID SECURITY MAYOR'S PLAN SHORT OF LAPD'S REQUEST.Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer While it falls far short of what police wanted, a $2.6 million initiative unveiled Thursday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. will solidify the LAPD's counterterrorism coun·ter·ter·ror adj. Intended to prevent or counteract terrorism: counterterror measures; counterterror weapons. n. Action or strategy intended to counteract or suppress terrorism. bureau and bolster the city Fire Department's ability to handle disasters, officials said. ``By investing in these new personnel, the city of Los Angeles
But the proposal is much less than the $7 million requested by the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . , which would have added personnel to a
division that officials say is understaffed and overburdened.
``We do a best-case scenario and we do a what's-available scenario,'' Police Chief William Bratton said. ``The larger figure was a dream scenario, if you will. We don't have the resources to fulfill that dream.'' ``But this emphasizes the priority this department places on terrorism.'' The Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States and Disaster Preparedness Initiative solidifies a division that has been left out of the city's budgeting process. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and the Pentagon, Los Angeles hasn't budgeted funding specifically for the LAPD's counterterrorism division, officials said. As a result, Bratton had to shift officers from other divisions to create the Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau in 2003. That left other divisions shorthanded. If Villaraigosa's initiative - which allocates $1.6 million for the remainder of the fiscal year and $2.6 million for fiscal 2006-07 - is approved by the City Council, those positions would become permanent, allowing the department to backfill back·fill n. Material used to refill an excavated area. tr.v. back·filled, back·fill·ing, back·fills To refill (an excavated area) with such material. positions in other divisions. The council is scheduled to discuss the plan at a meeting today. The initiative will not add staffers to the LAPD's counterterrorism bureau, officials said. Instead, it will make 73 existing positions permanent, including officers who provide intelligence, coordinate with other agencies and analyze potential terrorist targets. ``In the past, Chief Bratton had to rob Peter to pay Paul,'' said Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee. ``This gets rid of that.'' The money will also allow the Fire Department to create a Mass Disaster Planning Section and a Tactical Training Session. ``This is a first installment,'' Villaraigosa said. ``I reserve the right and have already talked about the idea that we may expand on this.'' LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Commander Mark Leap, head of the Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau who formed the $7 million proposal, was not available for comment Thursday. ``We don't have some of the resources that New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of has, but we have been working with what we have,'' Bratton said. ``We can do this. We can make this a safer city - safe from crime, safe from terror and, most importantly, safe from fear.'' Josh Kleinbaum, (818) 713-3669 josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com |
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