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Council honors LAPD reserve officers who served at Paris Olympics; council discusses expanding paid-event participation
Summary
Councilmembers recognized Los Angeles Police Department reserve officers who volunteered in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and discussed a policy idea to allow reserve officers to be paid for certain large events, which supporters said would aid retention and operational capacity.
The Los Angeles City Council on April 4 honored LAPD reserve officers who volunteered during the 2024 Paris Olympics and heard remarks about the unit’s training, contributions during emergencies and potential policy changes to retain reserves.
Councilmember John Lee highlighted the reserve officers’ volunteer service overseas and their broader support during local emergencies. “For the first time in the city’s history, a municipal police department of Los Angeles deployed in uniform in another country,” said Bernard Galili, who spoke to the council as an LAPD reserve officer and described a contingent of about 30 volunteers who served in Paris. Galili said the team represented Los Angeles “proudly and at no cost to the city.”
Reserve-unit speakers and councilmembers emphasized that reserves complete the same training as full-time officers and said reserves had been called on during recent fires and other events to fill operational gaps. Councilmember Lee proposed examining a program—described in remarks as allowing reserve officers to participate in a paid-event program (remarks referenced a program called “The Coast” in the transcript) so reserves could be compensated when external entities cover costs for large public events such as award shows or major sports events.
Supporters said the change would boost retention and expand the department’s surge capacity for future mass events, including the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Galili invited council members to an upcoming recognition banquet and stressed the reserves’ role in building bridges between officers and the communities they serve.
The council’s remarks were ceremonial and exploratory regarding the compensation idea; the transcript records the suggestion but does not show a formal referral, motion or vote on changing reserve pay policies.
