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PERSPECTIVE - Los Angeles wants the world to see a city ready for the future.
The FIFA World Cup has concluded. The 2028 Olympic Games are on the horizon. City Hall continues to promote Los Angeles as a global destination capable of hosting the world’s largest events.
But before Los Angeles welcomes millions of visitors, it must confront a question much closer to home:
Can the nation’s second-largest city provide the level of public safety its residents deserve?
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has provided an answer that should command the attention of every Angeleno.
According to McDonnell, the Los Angeles Police Department currently has approximately 8,550 sworn officers available to police a city of nearly four million residents. He believes the department ideally needs 12,500 officers to provide the level of coverage and service expected of a city this large.
That leaves Los Angeles operating nearly 4,000 officers short of the department’s stated ideal staffing level.
Whether one agrees with that target or believes a different number is appropriate, the Chief’s assessment raises a fundamental question about the City’s long-term public safety strategy.
Numbers Matter
This discussion should not begin with politics.
It should begin with arithmetic.
Every day, LAPD officers respond to emergency calls, investigate violent crimes, patrol neighborhoods, manage demonstrations, enforce traffic laws, prepare for natural disasters, protect critical infrastructure, and secure some of the nation’s highest-profile public events.
Those responsibilities have not decreased.
The number of officers available to perform them has.
Chief McDonnell noted that officers transferring laterally from other departments are often surprised by how much the LAPD accomplishes with comparatively limited staffing.
That speaks to the professionalism, experience, and dedication of the department’s officers.
It should not become an excuse to expect them to shoulder an ever-growing workload indefinitely.
There comes a point where efficiency alone cannot compensate for declining personnel.
The Cost of Doing More With Less
For years, Los Angeles has relied on the idea that government can continue doing more with fewer resources.
That philosophy eventually reaches its limits.
Fewer officers can mean fewer proactive patrols, increased overtime, longer response times for lower-priority calls, fewer detectives available for investigations, and less opportunity for officers to engage with the communities they serve.
These effects are often gradual rather than dramatic.
One vacancy rarely changes a city.
Hundreds of vacancies eventually do.
Cities seldom experience declining public safety because of a single decision.
They experience it through years of incremental choices that gradually reduce capacity while increasing expectations.
Technology Is a Tool—Not a Substitute
Chief McDonnell has embraced technology to improve efficiency.
The expanded use of drones has allowed the department to evaluate calls before officers arrive, reducing unnecessary dispatches and helping place limited resources where they are needed most.
These innovations deserve recognition.
Modern policing should embrace technologies that improve effectiveness and officer safety.
But technology remains a supplement—not a replacement—for sworn personnel.
Drones cannot interview witnesses.
Algorithms cannot investigate homicides.
Software cannot comfort victims of violent crime or de-escalate a dangerous encounter.
At its core, policing remains a profession built on trained people making sound decisions under difficult circumstances.
A Recruitment Challenge That Deserves Attention
The staffing challenge extends beyond today’s vacancies.
The department continues to lose hundreds of officers each year through retirements and attrition while academy graduation classes have struggled to keep pace.
Mayor Karen Bass has taken steps intended to improve recruitment and retention, including increasing starting salaries, streamlining portions of the hiring process, and encouraging experienced officers to remain on the force.
Those initiatives acknowledge the seriousness of the problem.
Whether they will reverse the long-term staffing trend remains an open question.
Public safety is one of the City’s most fundamental responsibilities.
Maintaining a workforce capable of meeting that responsibility requires sustained planning rather than short-term solutions.
Looking Ahead
Los Angeles is entering a decade unlike any in its history.
The city will continue hosting international events while confronting persistent challenges involving homelessness, emergency preparedness, traffic safety, property crime, and quality-of-life concerns.
Those responsibilities will not become smaller.
The demands placed upon law enforcement will almost certainly grow.
Reasonable people will continue debating budgets, policing strategies, accountability measures, and criminal justice reforms.
Those discussions are healthy and necessary.
But they should begin with an honest assessment of the City’s current staffing realities.
Ignoring the numbers does not change them.
The Bottom Line
Chief Jim McDonnell has done what every public official should strive to do.
He has given the public a candid assessment of where the Los Angeles Police Department stands today and where he believes it needs to be.
His message deserves a serious public conversation—not because it settles the debate, but because it informs it.
Los Angeles has approximately 8,550 sworn officers protecting nearly four million residents.
The Chief believes the department ideally needs 12,500.
Citizens, elected officials, and community leaders may differ on how to close that gap—or whether it should be closed entirely.
But one reality should unite everyone, regardless of political perspective:
Public safety is not measured by promises. It is measured by preparedness.
As Los Angeles prepares to welcome the world, City Hall must first answer a more important question:
Is it providing the people who already live here with the level of public safety they have every right to expect?
(Mihran Kalaydjian is a seasoned public affairs and government relations professional with more than twenty years of experience in legislative affairs, public policy, community relations, and strategic communications. A respected civic leader and education advocate, he has spearheaded numerous academic and community initiatives, shaping dialogue and driving reform in local and regional political forums. His career reflects a steadfast commitment to transparency, accountability, and public service across Los Angeles and beyond.)
(Jay Handal is a veteran community advocate and longtime CityWatch contributor who plays a central role in holding Los Angeles City Hall accountable. He serves as treasurer of the West LA–Sawtelle Neighborhood Council. With decades of grassroots organizing and civic leadership, Jay is a relentless voice for transparency, fiscal reform, and empowering neighborhoods to challenge waste, mismanagement, and backroom decision-making at City Hall.)
