LAPD RANKS REACH 8-YEAR HIGH CLASS OF 44 GRADUATES PUTS TALLY AT 9,503.

Byline: EUGENE TONG

Staff Writer

For newly minted LAPD Officer Alberto Ortiz, Friday's graduation from the Police Academy marked a milestone, with his class of 44 pushing the force over 9,500 -- the most since 1999.

"I would do anything for any of them," said Ortiz, 21. "I'm very proud I made it through LAPD."

With the department struggling with gang violence and a staff shortage, these young, eager academy graduates are a bright spot for department leaders. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton are continuing a push to build a force of 10,000 officers in five years.

But more progress is needed, with some 255 veteran officers anticipated to retire beginning in April amid stiff competition between law enforcement agencies for new recruits, Los Angeles Police Department and city leaders said.

"It's a significant milestone in terms of numbers," said Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, a member of the council's Public Safety Committee. "But the overall picture -- it is short of what we're trying to achieve with the impending retirements.

"You got your senior officers, senior detectives that are retiring. How do you fill 50 years of experience?"

Through aggressive recruitment campaigns, including billboards and online ads and enticements such as signing bonuses of up to $10,000 for new officers, the LAPD has reached 9,503 officers, the highest deployment since the department had 9,504 sworn officers in November 1999.

The department had fewer than 9,000 officers when Bratton became chief in 2002.

"You're coming into the department at a time when Chief Bratton and the command staff gets it," Police Commissioner Anthony Pacheco told the graduates during a ceremony at the Police Academy in Elysian Park. "They understand and are working with the city leaders in ways unheard of ... all in an effort to enhance public safety."

Yet Zine believes more can be done to address the underlying hurdles to recruitment, like the city's high cost of living. He cited past attempts by police agencies in Arizona that have attracted recruits by touting lower housing costs.

Rookie LAPD officers make just under $50,000 a year. Zine proposed developing affordable housing for officers on city-owned land as another draw for potential recruits.

"If they're paying $2,000 for an apartment, that doesn't leave a lot for them for a car payment," he said.

Bratton did not attend the ceremony but said the department remains on track to meet the goal of 10,500 officers, with the academy training 70 officers a month. Despite the manpower shortage, he said the department has been effective.

"I think you are seeing clearly we have a very aggressive department," he said. "They have, over the last four now going on five years, gotten overall crime down 30 percent."

Pacheco acknowledged the job of the graduates won't be easy -- the 9,500 LAPD officers are taking on an estimated 39,000 known gang members in the city. They can only even the odds with community cooperation and more officers, he said.

"When I see these new officers join the ranks," he said, "I know the future is bright."

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CAPTION(S):

photo, chart

Photo:

Janice Dobbins hugs her son, Kevin, after his graduation Friday from the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Chart:

Sworn deployment

SOURCE: Officec of the Chief of Police

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist