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Long Beach's Censored Police Budget: LBREPORT.com Publishes What City Budget Docs Don't Show
LBReport.com
News / Perspective
Long Beach's Censored Police Budget: LBREPORT.com Publishes What City Budget Docs Don't Show
If LBREPORT.com didn't tell you, who would?
No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to 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. 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, 2020) -- On Sept. 8 (or Sept. 15 at the latest), the Long Beach City Council will vote on how many police officers to provide LB taxpayers for the next twelve months when it votes on City Hall's FY21 spending budget (Oct 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021.)
Official City of LB budget documents -- online and in print -- omit the following:
The number of sworn officers the FY21 budget proposes to provide for taxpayers.
The number of sworn officers the FY20 budget (adopted Sept.. 2019) currently provides for taxpayers.
A comparison of police levels provided by City Councils in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Signal Hill compared to Long Beach. (LB city management routinely compares other cities with LB in justifying pay raises for various categories of city employees and management,
LBREPORT.com provides the City-omitted information below.
City management's FY21 budget proposes to provide 705.75 sworn officer positions. (Source: Response to LBREPORT.com by City's Joint Information Center.) These officers are funded by the City Council mainly from General Fund revenue for citywide use.
The FY21 budget includes 91.25 "contracted" sworn officer positions. (Source: Response to LBREPORT.com by City of LB Joint Information Center.) These officers are NOT funded by Council budget decisions Various entities -- the Port of LB, LB Airport, LBCC, LBUSD, LBTransit, LA Metro and County Carmelitos Housing -- tell the City how many LBPD officers they want/need for their policing needs. The entities pay the City a sum to deliver and deploy those officers under contracts with the City.
The FY 21 budget includes a reduction of three contracted officers; one contracted position was assigned to the LBUSD School Resource Officer program and is reduced at LBUSD’s request; two contracted positions assigned to Metro Blue Line are reduced per Metro’s request (Source: Attachment E to FY21 budget.)
Accordingly, for accuracy, LBREPORT.com lists contracted officers separately from Council General Fund-funded officers. That's because (a) although contracted officers are regular full fledged LBPD officers, during periods when they're providing contracted services at various fixed venues, they're not available to respond to neighborhood and citywide calls for service AND (b) they're NOT funded by Long Beach Council budget decisions.
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By comparison, the FY 20 Council adopted budget provided 851 total sworn officers of which 756.75 were General Fund Council funded officers and 94.25 were contracted officers.
The proposed FY21 budget would eliminate 54 total sworn officer positions, three of which are "contracted" officer positions. If approved by the Council on Sept. 8, 2020, the result will leave LB taxpayers with 51 fewer sworn General Fund Council budgeted officers than in FY20: (756.75 -51,00 = 705.75 Gen'l Fund funded FY21 officer positions for taxpayers.).
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The Council adopted FY 20 budget (approved Sept. 3, 2019) left LB taxpayers with a sworn officer level (Council budgeted, not contracted) of roughly 1.6 officers per thousand residents. This is roughly equivalent per capita to LA Mayor Garcetti and LA's City Council erasing over a third of L.A.'s budgeted police level.
If the Council votes on Sept. 8, 2020 the FY21 management proposed/Mayor Garcia recommended FY21 budget, it will leave LB taxpayers with a sworn officer level (Council budgeted not conrtacted) of roughly 1.5 officers per thousand residents. This will be roughly equivalent to LA Mayor Garcetti and LA's City Council erasing roughly 40% of LA's police level . (Source: City population data latest update from CA Dept. of Finance, Demographic Research Unit, Report E-1. City budgeted numbers from their public record respective budget actions.)
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City management has publicly indicated that restoring 10 LBPD officers ("fully turned out" with equipment and other contracted) can be roughly estimated at about $2 million.
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The taboo question that no Council incumbent has publicly asked and hasn't been answered is how do City Councils these other cities manage to provide their taxpayers with police levels significantly higher than LB Council incumbents provide to LB taxpayers?
Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to 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.
