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Grassroots
Call for City Ballot Measure
"Unity and Peace; We Want More Police"
.
. . of the People,
by
the People, for the People
That's what the community asks for ... so, will the community
respond?
by Bill Murray
LACP Founder
December 15,
2004
It's always
been obvious at our grassroots nonprofit that the Los Angeles Police
Department needs more troops. No matter where we go in the City
we hear the residents say they want increased patrol.
The efforts
of LACP began, almost by accident, as a response to the local consequences
of the attack on 9-11. The homicide rate skyrocketed in early 2002,
partly because the gangs correctly perceived that the Department
was focused on preparing for our own possible terrorism.
In Hollenbeck
Division, where I am a Community-Police Advisory Board member (C-PAB),
bullets flew almost every day and every night in a turf war for
control of the neighborhoods. In an early LACP article I dubbed
LA's gang members as "Homegrown Terrorists."
Local residents
asked some of us to help organize a march from the police station
to Parker Center. The event was widely publicized by the news media.
The main chant
was "Unity and Peace - We Want More Police."
Since that time,
despite numerous major improvements in LAPD and the City as a whole,
which have resulted in a significant drop in serious violent crime,
the request has never changed …
Measure A, the
countywide initiative on the November ballot intended to fund additional
law enforcement officers, recently failed by a narrow margin in
the City of Los Angeles.
Because of how
the proposed ½ cent sales tax was presented on the ballot,
it needed a supermajority to pass, 66%. In some areas within City
limits it did so outright, yet citywide it received 64% of the vote,
and failed.
As noted, no
matter where I go around the City, and no matter who I talk to,
I hear the same request for more cops, and we've written extensively
about the fact that LAPD has half the number of police officers
per capita of any other major American city, and a huge geographic
area to patrol (please see the table below).
It's time we
did something about it, once and for all, and during these times
of fiscal crisis it will be up to the community to take the lead.
We need to insure that the Department be given a fair chance at
making Los Angeles the "safest big city in America."
The Los
Angeles Police Commission discussed the idea of placing a Measure
A type initiative for LAPD on the City ballot in May. I immediately
committed to helping them through LACP and my many Neighborhood
Council and public safety contacts.
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Police
Commission Discusses a Ballot Measure
to Hire More Police Officers - November 30, 2004
Police
Commission Letter to City Council
Requesting Consideration of a Ballot Measure
to Hire More Police Officers - December 7, 2004
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So
... what can we do? I'm sending out a call through the Neighborhood
Councils and to individuals I feel may need and deserve a voice
in this. Perhaps as stakeholders we can approach the City from the
"bottom up" as we seek alternative ways to increase police
presence in our communities.
Let's take the lead ...
LACP
/ LANCissues email:
Grassroots Public Safety Ballot Measure
There are many of us who felt that "Measure A" on
November's ballot, the
proposed ½ cent sales tax, was critically important in
order to make Los Angeles a safer city. A majority of the voters
in the City of Los Angeles (64 % to be exact) were willing to
pay for these improvements.
But, as you know, passage required approval by 2/3rds of the
voters in the entire county.
Since then many neighborhood council leaders have been urging
the City Council to place a similar measure on the city's May
ballot. If so it would need approval by 2/3rds of the city's
voters, and all of the money would be spent within the City
of Los Angeles.
This provides neighborhood councils and their leaders a remarkable
opportunity to design this measure - a grassroots effort.
But time is short, and we have to act quickly.
The City Council must take its first action by January 22, 2005
if any measure is going to be added to this ballot.
As someone who has already devoted many months of his life to
work for the passage of Measure A, I am ready, willing, and
able to continue the fight.
I would like to know if you, as individuals or spokespersons
for your neighborhood council, would be interested in "going
to the next level," and I'm asking if you'd participate
in special community discussions about designing the specifics
of a ballot measure that would pay for improved public safety.
I've already confirmed I can quickly arrange a series of regional
meetings with top level city officials to hear your suggestions
and answer your questions.
If you are interested, I suggest that you do two things:
First,
please contact me to let me know your views. I've set
up a special new mailbox and email address for this at:
BallotMeasure@lacp.org
Second, let your City Council member know your feelings.
You can email them easily through the city's home page
at: www.lacity.org |
Please continue to monitor our two popular websites, one for
LA Community Policing and the other for the LA Neighborhood
Council Citywide Issues Group, for updates:
Yours in service,
Bill Murray
PS: Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you like.
PPS:
Thank you for supporting your law enforcement officers.
...."Community
Policing ... it's everyone's issue"
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LAPD Chief of Police William J. Bratton has struggled to win funding
for more officers. Here's a comparison with some other large U.S.
cities.
Ratio
of police officers to population and area:
American
City |
Officers
per
1,000 population |
Officers
per
square mile |
No.
of officers
on police force |
| Washington
|
6.89 |
58.7 |
3,604 |
| Baltimore |
5.07 |
41.4 |
3,350 |
| New
York |
4.96 |
128.8 |
39,779 |
| Philadelphia |
4.87 |
54.8 |
7,400 |
| Chicago |
4.84 |
61.9 |
14,075 |
| St.
Louis |
4.61 |
17.8 |
1,100 |
| Detroit |
4.34 |
29.8 |
4,130 |
| Boston |
3.63 |
45.1 |
2,164 |
| Los
Angeles |
2.41 |
19.7 |
9,241* |
*Authorized
in current budget
Sources: LAPD
Plan of Action, Book II
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