LAPD HIRING CUFFED RECRUITMENT PROCESS 'LENGTHY,' JURY FINDS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

LAPD's problems hiring new cops stem from a ``lengthy, unfriendly and negative'' recruiting process that requires up to 27 applicants to find just one qualified officer, according to a Los Angeles County grand jury report.

The report, to be released later this week, said the number of applicants dropped from 14,000 in 1995 to fewer than 7,000 in 1999.

The 23-member panel found it ``troubling'' that only 4 percent to 6 percent of applicants pass the battery of written tests, interviews, background checks and polygraph tests that can take up to six months or more.

Jurors noted that the department would need to recruit 16,000 to 27,000 applicants just to hire 1,000 officers to meet the city's needs.

``Historically, LAPD's reputation generated more candidates than necessary to fill its vacant positions,'' the report found.

``That has not been true in the past few years. Many factors contribute to that, including social issues such as lower unemployment rates and department-specific issues such as reputation, officer morale and working conditions perceived as less than desirable than other forces.''

Longtime Police Commission member Burt Boeckmann, a prominent San Fernando Valley businessman, said efforts are under way to streamline the recruiting process.

``I think we still have a long way to go,'' Boeckmann said. ``If someone is applying for a job, they are not looking to spend six to nine months or a year to get a response.''

Critics said the LAPD's problems recruiting new officers and retaining veterans has left the department a serious manpower shortage as it has shrunk to about 9,060 officers, about 800 below its level two years ago.

``This department is dying,'' said Bob Baker, vice president of the Police Protective League. ``To see this great agency in a meltdown is extremely troubling.

``The biggest problem we have is we don't know how to treat our employees. We are losing officers to other agencies at an unbelievable rate. The chief is totally out of touch with the rank-and-file. Until the department realizes they have a morale and attrition problem, nothing will change.''

LAPD spokesman Lt. Horace Frank said the department is only down about 150 officers from a year ago, and more officers are being hired as the economy has slowed and applicants who were not interested during good times when they could get high paying, safe jobs are now applying.

``Yes, we are having difficulties recruiting, but this is not something that is purely LAPD,'' Frank said. ``Recruitment is down throughout the country. It's unfortunate that every time there is an issue, someone tries to make the connection between recruitment and Rampart. Our numbers were down well before Rampart.''

Frank said LAPD gets blamed because it has very stringent recruitment standards, but when something like Rampart happens, the department is blamed for allowing those officers on the force.

``If we're going to have strict standards, lets have strict standards, even if it's going to slow down recruitment. At least we know we are getting the best people.''

The grand jury panel agreed with that assessment in part and recommended that the police department speed up its recruitment process to avoid losing good candidates to competing agencies.

``LAPD is competing with other police departments for good police officer candidates and many, if not most, applicants are applying to multiple departments,'' the report said. ``Therefore, LAPD needs to concern itself with two separate issues. First, LAPD must not take longer than other departments to process candidate applications, lest an attractive candidate accepts another position before LAPD makes an offer.''

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Association, said he's seen the impact of the recruitment problem in his neighborhood.

``The LAPD is under such a microscope because of what happened with Rampart so it's very difficult to recruit,'' Schultz said.

``Van Nuys has pockets of high crime because of the high density, low-income housing. With less police on the street, it leads to less reported crime and problems for those who live in the community.''

In a series of moves in recent months, LAPD officials have dismantled several specialized units to put more officers on patrol. In the San Fernando Valley, 115 officers were reassigned from units targeting violent criminals, sex offenders and auto theft.

Beset by serious morale problems, the LAPD has lost 30 percent of its officers in the past five years with officers with more experience joining other police agencies.

Many of the departures are blamed on low morale, the result of scandals from Rodney King to the Los Angeles riots to the Christopher Commission to the Rampart scandal and federal consent decree.

The grand jury noted that LAPD is optimistic that the background investigation process will not be as lengthy or confrontational thanks to the department's decision in February to use lie detectors on applicants.

But jurors wrote they are concerned about a five-month delay in administering the polygraph examinations.

When the polygraph was introduced in February, the LAPD decided to administer tests to candidates who had cleared the background process and had been offered positions, but who had not yet completed police academy training.

``This created a large backlog of pending examinations and has added to the delays,'' jurors wrote.

The LAPD currently handles the recruitment process for officers, although the city's 2001-02 budget calls for returning responsibility to the Los Angeles City Personnel Department with LAPD participating.

After the Rampart scandal, disagreement arose between the LAPD and city personnel department whether the officers involved were appropriately screened before hiring.

The squabbling has slowed the hiring process but the grand jurors noted that in recent months, the LAPD and city personnel department have worked to improve relations.

``Recently, significant good-faith efforts have been made on both sides to improve communication, working relationships and problem resolution,'' jurors wrote.

Officers interviewed about the recruitment process cited an attitude by LAPD recruiters that they should be grateful they were even considered and the confrontational approach of the interview, jurors wrote.

``In two cases, officers interviewed indicated that Los Angeles either never responded, or was significantly longer than another department,'' jurors wrote.

Officers interviewed by the grand jury said the obstacles the LAPD has to becoming a more attractive police agency are the eight-hour, five-day work week, citizen complaint review and disciplinary process and inadequate allowance for equipment and uniforms.