MEASURE A: NEW TAX OPTIONS MULLED FOR MORE POLICE BACA, BRATTON REGROUP AFTER VOTERS NIX PLAN.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A day after voters rejected taxing themselves to pay for more cops, Los Angeles city and county officials talked Wednesday of finding more money for law enforcement in their budgets and possibly trying for a tax hike again.

Sheriff Lee Baca said he favors seeking only a one-quarter percent sales tax increase countywide rather than the one-half percent hike turned down Tuesday. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and other Los Angeles officials said a city tax is being considered for the March ballot.

``There are a number of options available,'' Bratton said. ``There is no denying that we are a safer county and city than we were in the 1990s.

``But we are still an incredibly dangerous area for many of our residents and that acts as a deterrent to economic investment, tourism, new jobs and the tax revenues those new jobs pay for public safety and all the other things that government provides.''

Measure A, a one-half percent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County for more police and sheriff's deputies, failed to pass on Tuesday. Less than 60 percent of voters supported it, well below the two-thirds approval required.

The measure was designed to raise $560 million annually to help law enforcement agencies in the county hire 5,000 more police officers and sheriff's deputies to try to cut the crime rate in half. Baca and Bratton had argued that New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia have twice as many officers per capita as the county has.

Council President Alex Padilla, speaking at a news conference with other officials on Wednesday, said city leaders are looking into the possibility of placing a sales tax increase measure for the city on the March 8 ballot.

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said city and county elected officials have to also make public safety their top funding priority.

``What you have here today is a group of individuals from the city and county saying, we are making a commitment to find the funds to have more officers on the streets,'' Greuel said.

In a separate development Wednesday, the county Board of Supervisors, saying the voters' message was clear, voted to find ways to use available revenues to increase the sheriff's budget.

The supervisors also voted to investigate whether a portion of an unexpected $309 million budget surplus could be used to reopen several jails and end a program that has released more than 60,000 inmates after they served 10 percent or less of their sentences.

``There is no need for another tax increase,'' Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said.

``And we oppose the sheriff releasing criminals back to our streets. That's totally irresponsible. We are totally opposed to the scare tactics that Bratton and Baca used to try to scare voters to increase their taxes when it was not needed.

``And for the sheriff to now say we need another tax increase is totally missing reality. We don't need additional taxes. We do need better management and to use resources the county already has to help the sheriff do his job.''

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who introduced the motion to put Measure A on the ballot, said some of the county's surplus funds intended for capital projects can be used to reopen several jails.

He also said the jails will be able to use some of the $100 million to $200 million in additional annual county revenues from Proposition 63 - approved by state voters Tuesday, to raise the state income tax on personal income in excess of $1 million to fund mental-health services - to treat mentally ill jail inmates, who have long gone without adequate treatment.

``I think the highest priority is to stop the early release program,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``The early release program is undermining the integrity of the criminal justice system. When you get out of jail after serving less than 10 percent of your sentence, word gets out that the justice system has no teeth.''

Baca and Bratton attributed Measure A's failure to anti-tax sentiment and a lack of trust among voters.

Bratton said he suspects more voters in the city supported the tax, which he indicated might be a sign that a tax increase could pass if it is placed on the city's March ballot.

King Davis, president of the 40-member Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Association, said the police chiefs are going to work with Baca and Bratton to put another sales tax measure on a future ballot.

``If crime is going down in one part of the county, it's possible it's going up in another part of the county,'' Davis said.

For a successful effort, Bratton said law enforcement officials need to educate the public to help them overcome the lack of trust they have that a tax increase would truly be used for public safety.

``There is a degree of mistrust,'' Bratton said. ``We know people want more police, but we need to address concerns of whether the money is going to be used appropriately and if there is enough money for intervention.''

Baca said he intends to design a Web site to feature the pictures and stories of the 1,000 annual homicide victims in the county to help people understand the need for more law enforcement officers.

Baca also said he intends to ask the Board of Supervisors to dedicate 40 percent of general fund revenues - up from the 28 percent he receives now - and future property tax increases for his department.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca talks about other funding possibilities after the failure of a local sales tax hike proposal.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer