Mgm't/Mayor Proposed Budget Doesn't Add $2.2 Mil To Police For Gangs; It's Simply PD OT, Camouflaged To Hide No Proposed Funding To Restore Field Anti-Gang Unit

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(Aug. 17, 2015) -- Contrary to what you may have heard or seen elsewhere, the FY16 budget proposed by city management and recommended by Mayor Garcia doesn't "add" $2.2 million to the police budget to deal with gangs. The $2.2 million is part of regularly anticipated LBPD overtime needed for unavoidable time beyond regularly scheduled shifts. (Officers can't just clock off and go home when someone who may or may not be armed is threatening his wife and kids, a burglary suspect hides in a garbage can and, yes, someone's been shot and it's likely gang related.)

The amount proposed to be budgeted for PD OT from oil revenue in FY16 is $2.2 million. That's exactly the same amount from oil revenue budgeted by the Council in FY15. Numbers haven't changed, just budget verbiage; see it yourself; compare the FY15 enacted budget verbiage with the FY16 proposed budget narrative:

Enacted FY15	Proposed FY16
Non-recurring funding for Overtime to address violent crimes. $ 2,200,000	Non-recurring funds for overtime to patrol, suppress, investigate and prosecute violent crime activities. Overtime will be allocated to gang enforcement, violent crime suppression, homicide investigations and other priorities as determined by the Chief of Police: $ 2,200,000

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Mayor Garcia has gone beyond spin; his Budget Recommendations don't even mention that the $2.2 mil is for overtime (and thus nothing new.) Garcia also sent a mass emailing telling recipients that the proposed budget "includes additional money for crime analysis and combating gangs and violence" when what he recommended adding is $100k for crime analysis which can be for gang and non-gang crimes.

What's not proposed (again) in the management/Mayor FY16 budget is restoring funding for LBPD's field anti-gang unit.

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On July 1, 2015, LBREPORT.com reported the number of murders and non-fatal shootings by Council districts from Jan 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015. We wrote that Long Beach is a "tale of two cities"...in which some areas enjoy the best of times, while others endure the worst of times.

[LBREPORT.com text, July 1, 2015] Long Beach politicians frequently cite citywide crime statistics...but these combine the city's low crime and higher crime areas and may or may not reflect real-world conditions in various neighborhoods. Within higher crime areas, families and neighborhood businesses may regularly encounter crime scene tape, sirens, hovering helicopters and blocked streets for shooting investigations...conditions that other parts of Long Beach rarely if ever experience.

To view our full story, click here.

Until October 2012, LB had 20 officers plus 2 sergeants in the field to counter gangs (annual structural funding.) Until October 2013, the Council budgeted up to 10 officers plus 1 sergeant (one-year funding.)

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A month after letting the field anti-gang unit disappear, a former Council voted (Nov. 2013, 7-2, DeLong and Johnson dissenting) to approve unbudgeted double-digit raises for city management that now impose a continuing annual cost on LB taxpayers of over $1.5 million a year.

Developing.

Related coverage:

Police Chief Luna Tells Community Budget Audience How LBPD Handles Gangs Without Field Anti-Gang Unit

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