If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. ,I , I ! Annual Report 1978 __ .. ) Los Angeles City Council _______________ ~.. Mayor Tom Bradley John Ferraro, President Joel Wachs, President Pro Tempore Bob Ronka Joy Picus Zev Yaroslavsky Pat Russell Ernani Bernardi Robert C. Farrell Gilbert W. Lindsay David Cunningham Marvin Braude Robert M. Wilkinson Peggy Stevenson Arthur K. Snyder John S. Gibson, Jr. Burt Pines, City Attorney Ira Reiner, City Controller - NCJRS Mayor Tom Bradley FEB i 1 1980 'Los Angeles City H!i\1I 200 North Spring Street Los Angeles, California 90012 ACQU1SITICf'~S Dear Mayor Bradley; The past year and the year ahead provide serious challenges and offer real opportunities to the Los Angeles Police Department. We are in the process of attempting to make constructive changes in many significant areas, while retaining those policies and procedures which have made the Department so successful in the past. We believe that 1978 was a positive year. We selected a new Chief of Police pursuant to an improved selection process. We maintained the high quality of polioe service in a period of fiscal limitation and restraint. We sought to increase public confidence in the Department's operations by providing for full disclosure of information to the public whenever possible. We expect that the current year will bring further improvement, and that we will be working closely with the Chief of Police in our efforts to better the Department's operation. We are grateful for the support you have shown us in the past and will 'i need your continued advice and counsel in the year ahead. i Sincerely, Stephen Reinhardt 1 Board of Police Commissioners ______________.. Stephen Reinhardt, President James G. Fisk, Vice President Mariana R. Pfaelzer Attorney-at-Law. Former Adjunct Professor, Political Attorney-at-Law. President, Recreation and Science Department, UCLA. Parks Commission. Former Deputy Chief of Police. Salvador Montenegro Samuel L. Williams Consultant, mal estate Attorney-at-Law. Past Presi­ management, appraisal and dent, Los Angeles County sales. Former Police Com­ Bar Association. mission Hearing Examiner. 2 Daryl F. Gates became the City's 49th Chief of Chief Gates served in the United States Navy dur­ Police on March 28. Participating in change-of­ ing World War II. He is an alumnus of the Univer­ command ceremonies were Governor Edmund G. sity of Southern California and holds a bachelor of Brown Jr., MayorTom Bradley, Police Commission science degree. Past president of the Peace Offi­ President Mariana R. Pfaelzer, Superior Court cers Association of Los Angeles County, he is Judge Robert I. Weil and Assistant Chief Robert F. prominently identified with numerous local and Rock. The latter had served as Chief following the national professional organizations. Chief Gates is January retirement of Edward M. Da\'is. a recognized authority on the prevention and con­ A native of the neighboring city of Glendale, Chief trol of civil disorder. He also pioneered the con­ Gates entered the Department in 1949 and, 20 cept of Special Weapons and Tactics teams to years later, had progressed through the ranks to achieve law enforcement objectives during crisis Assistant Chief and Director of the Office of Ad­ situations without the loss of life. ministrative Services. Prior to the March appoint­ ment, he had been Director of the Office of Opera­ tions for eight years. 3 Chief's Message ______________________ The year found the Department confronted by two to prove our mettle. To fulfill our pledge of unin­ major problems: a startling increase in serious terrupted protection and service, a program of re­ crime and a steady decrease in funds available to alignment is being structured which will create an finance our services to the City. organizational entity that will help assure maxi­ No one can explain with certainty just what mum productivity from existing sworn and civilian brought about the rising crime rate, coming as it personnel resources. The minimal changes in did after two full years of downward trends. A assignment probably will be confined to the Office partial explanation may lie in our mounting popu~ of Operations, the Bureau of Special Investigation lation, which leaves the Department with only 2.01 and traffic units. Management's style will be dif­ officers for each 1,000 residents - a ratio well be­ ferent. Our approach to problems will be different. low that of four of the other five largest cities in The organization of LAPD will be different. But our the nation. Department planning is based upon a stand against lawlessness will not change. current population of three million, with the City's Our authorized sworn personnel during the fiscal Planning Department anticipating an additional year 1977-78 (ending on June 30) numbered 7,369, 350,000 residents by 1980. with 2,858 civilian employees authorized. For the Most newcomers are of Hispanic and Asian origins. fiscal year 1978~79, those figures dropped to 7,016 Pending publication of the 1980 census, it is esti­ and 2,553 respectively, for a combined loss of 658 mated that 900,000 Hispanics and 400,000 Asians authorized positions. The loss of civilian workers now five in Los Angeles. Many face tremendous should not be underestimated. Too often it be­ language, social and cultural barriers in their ef­ came necessary to take uniformed officers out of forts to establish themselves with dignity in an the field to perform essential tasks heretofore area which they 'must find as strange as it is invit­ completed by civilians. This at a time when an ing. The problems that arise during the integrating acute need existed for more officers in the field. process involve our officers when criminals turn Every effort was exerted to minimize decreases in upon recent arrivals as easy prey. uniformed personnel aSSigned to street operations, Every resident deserves the same level of protec­ Le., patrol cars, foot beats, accident investigation, tion and service. That poses no difficulty when traffic enforcement and air support. Retrenchment resources keep pace with population. Resources, fell hardest upon investigative and support units. however, have diminished as rapidly as the popu­ Funds budgeted for officer overtime sustained a lation has risen, with inflation impacting as heavily cut of 50 percent and all funds for civilian overtfme upon City government as on the average house­ were eliminated. In lieu of dollar reimbursements, hold. The same dollar that buys far less foed, compensatory time off was initiated. While more clothing and gasoline, provides the Department than $3.1 million was saved, the drain on person­ with far fewer officers, vehicles and eqUipment. nel resources became even more severe because And we have fewer of those dollars coming in. of the resultant time off. Many months prior to the passage of Proposition Fortunately, the Department was able to maintain 13, the Department was experiencing budgetary service levels in responding to emergency calls. cutbacks. Proposition 13 was only the culmination Response to non-emergency calls dropped off by of the people's plea for fiscal constraint through­ about 10 percent. out government. Detective?, probably more than any other single But if "adversity introduces a man to himself," the classification of sworn personnel, were asked to same may be said of a police department. It is in carry the heaviest burdens brought on by depleted this light that we accept the current challenges staffs of experts upon whom they had traditionally without complaint, knowing the opportunity is here relied for specialized support services. Detectives 4 ? i - • ..... themselves were forced to complete routine tasks When all is said and done, the significance of the rather than subject their investigations to pro­ past 12 months will not be found in a recital of longed delays. At the same time, attrition among what we have lost but in what we have gained. We veteran detectives was especially severe. The De­ have discovered who and what we really are and, partment lost their skills and experience while in so doing, encountered reserves o'i skills, resil~ others had to assume their workloads. The aver­ ience and determination never before recognized. age 852 detectives that had been deployed per It has proved once again that the true strength of month.during the last five months of 1977 fell to the Department cannot be measured by dollar 790 in 1978. signs but only in the character of its men and Because the services furnished by Records and women. Their devotion to duty transcends all Identification Division are so vitally important, its budgetary considerations and lies at the heart of personnel were not cut. However, major difficul­ our capacity to meet the future, knowing that the ties were encountered due to unusually high attri­ job can and will be done. They have made a new tion and the constraints of a hiring freeze which, Chief of Police more than ever proud to be in most instances, precluded the replacing of em­ counted among them. ployees. The vacancy rate exceeded 15 percent DARYL F. GA l'ES compared with less than five percent a year ago. Chief of Police Again, the situation was aggravated by the elimin­ ation of overtime pay. Traffic services and its sup­ port units lost 94 employees at a time when fatal traffic accidents increased by more than 20 percent. The hiring of recruits necessarily was halted dur­ ing the last seven months, frustrating our vigorous efforts to attract and employ more Black, Hispanic and Asian candidates and females of all races. We remain determined to make the Department even more representative of all the people. Fortunately, there are prospects that attrition will spur the re­ vival of minority recruitment early in 1979.