Councilman Robert Garcia: "A Multi-Year Police Academy Plan"

(Feb. 3, 2012) -- The chair of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, Councilman Robert Garcia, writes the following in a Feb. 1 mass emailing and mirrored dispatch on his personally-run website RobertGarcia.com:

A Multi-Year Police Academy Plan

Dear Friends:

2011 saw a historic drop in our murder rate. In fact, we had the lowest murder rate in 40 years. While most crimes have seen significant drops over the last few years, we saw an uptick in certain types of crimes including robberies and assaults in 2011. Our Police Officers are doing an incredible job with the resources available, especially considering the economic downtown.

Yesterday, as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I brought forward a proposal supported by Councilman James Johnson, to begin a Multi-Year planning process for our Police Academy and Police recruitment. We need to begin long term planning to ensure that we increase our force, but also do so in a fiscally responsible way.

On February 14th, we will be asking the full City Council to direct the City Manager to bring back a Multi-Year Police Academy Plan in March - at the same time that the Council will receive an update on our city budget and the effect of our public safety pension reform agreements.

For more details, you can read today's story in the Press-Telegram [linked on his page].

Thanks again and Go Long Beach,

Robert Garcia [end text]