Graph Shows LB's Budgeted Police Level For Taxpayers, Compared To L.A. And Signal Hill

LBReport.com

News

Graph Shows LB's Budgeted Police Level For Taxpayers, Compared To L.A. And Signal Hill, If Council Votes Tonight To Approve Mgm't/Mayor FY19 Budget Recommendations

LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. Support independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

(Sept. 4, 2018, 1:30 p.m., updated Sept. 5, 12:30 p.m.) -- As separately reported by LBREPORT.com, the City Council voted on September 4 (actually completed at roughly 1:50 a.m. Sept. 5) to approve police and fire restorations in a FY19 budget proposed by city management with recommendations by Mayor Robert Garcia. The net result leaves LB taxpayers with a budgeted sworn police level for routine citywide deployment of 1.59 officers per thousand residents (up from 1.58 in FY18.)

By comparison, L.A.'s Mayor/Council budget 2.47 officers per thousand residents (not including Airport/Port police.) Signal Hill, surrounded by Long Beach, budgets 3.15 sworn officers per thousand residents for its taxpayers.

[Scroll down for further.]

Our LB ratio doesn't include officers that the Council doesn't allocate or pay-for; that number is decided -- and paid for -- by various entities that contract with LBPD to provide police services at LB's Port, Airport, LBUSD, LBCC, LBTransit, L.A. County Carmelitos housing and Metro. Contracted officers aren't routinely available during their contracted shifts to respond to citywide needs or to calls for service where you live (unless you live inside the Port, the Airport or on a LBTransit bus or a Metro train.) If the number of contracted officers were included, LB's FY19 budgeted police level would be 1.79 officers per thousand.

For details on LB's FY19 citywide deployable budgeted figure, see LBREPORT.com coverage at this link.

Sponsor

In calculating the officer-to-population ratio, LBREPORT.com used the most recent updated population estimate for CA cities provided by the CA Dept.of Finance (May 2018 Report E-1.)

In FY17, LB's Mayor/Council restored 17 citywide deployable officers. In FY18. the Mayor/Council restored no additional citywide deployable officers. For FY19, Mayor Garcia recommends restoring 6 citywide deployable (bicycle patrol) officers while city management proposes shifting one citywide deployable officer to an Airport-contracted position, producing a net increase from FY18 to FY19 of 5 additional routine citywide deployable budgeted officers..

The net result for taxpayers as for FY19: 22 citywide deployable officers restored out of 208 erased...with 186 citywide deployable budgeted officers that LB taxpayers previously received yet to be restored.

Sponsor

As previously reported by LBRPORT.com, Mayor Robert Garcia recently defended the current pace of officer restorations and balked at fully restoring the 180+ remaining officers he voted as a Councilman (2009-2014) to erase. LBREPORT.com coverage (with audio) here.

Sponsor

Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to incumbent Long Beach officials, development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.