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Council debates LAPD recruiting targets, class sizes and civilian staffing in budget fight
Summary
Council members sparred over reductions to sworn recruitment class sizes and the committee—s decision to restore a limited number of civilian positions that investigators said are critical to patrol operations; recommendation reducing academy class size to 240 drew sustained opposition but passed as amended.
The council spent significant time on policing staffing, particularly on the size of future sworn recruitment classes and the role of civilian staff who handle specialized functions. The Budget and Finance Committee recommended reducing the planned sworn recruits from a higher number to 240 for the coming year; the police department and several councilmembers warned the change risks lowering sworn headcount after attrition.
What happened: LAPD officials presented recent hiring and academy outcomes and discussed attrition rates. Councilmembers and chiefs provided historical hiring numbers for 2022-23 and 2023-24 and highlighted attrition rates that the department expects will persist. Committee members defended the smaller class size as a trade-off to preserve critical civilian positions (for fingerprinting, evidence processing and other functions) that free sworn officers for patrol work.
Votes and outcome: The council approved the committee—s recommendation on recruitment as modified earlier in the meeting. The recommendation to limit the sworn class to roughly 240 recruits — and to restore specific civilian positions — was adopted as part of the larger budget package (a separate recorded vote on the recommendation was 14-1 at the time it passed in committee; the entire budget package was later adopted by the full council 12-3).
Why it matters: Council members and LAPD leadership said recruitment, academy class sizes and civilian staffing together determine patrol capacity and readiness for major events. Several members urged aggressive recruitment steps in coming months and asked the department to provide an operational deployment plan that maximizes patrol coverage under the adopted budget.
