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Big Spending, Little Accountability

Posted on 01/26/2026
LAPD pictured in the City Hall

ONE BIG THING: LAPD Hiring and a $25M Budget Hole

 
What Happened?

The Council voted 9–4 to commit to $25 million per year to hire 130 new sworn LAPD officers — even as the City is set to lose 275 civilian LAPD employees due to last year’s budget cuts. 
 
And since this is happening completely outside of the city’s normal budget process — we have no idea where the $25 million per year will come from.
 
Why it matters
 
When a department takes up nearly half of our budget, we deserve transparency. 
  • 23 sworn LAPD officers are assigned to PR and media relations — costing more than the entire budgets of nine City departments.
  • $50+ million every quarter is spent on LAPD overtime with no real oversight into what it's being used for.
  • On any given day, only about 1,000 of more than 8,000 officers are actually on patrol. 
We have plenty of opportunities for efficiency, but without transparency, we’re going to see further cuts to essential city services.
 
What's Next?
 
Because this passed, the City now has a $25 million bigger budget hole heading into the next budget cycle (April–June). 
 
To bring some transparency, we introduced a motion to move 10 auditor positions from the LAPD to the City Controller’s office so we can have an independent agency look into where our money is being spent. Stay tuned for more updates after it’s heard in the Personnel Committee in the coming weeks!
 
Two More Quick Hits! 
 
1. First Rapid Response Training of 2026 
 
56 people joined our Rapid Response Training this week, where community members learned how to document and respond to ICE raids. As we see escalating activity in our communities and across the country, this is a way to make a real difference at the local level. 
 
It was incredible to be with so many neighbors who want to be part of the solution. And the most inspiring part is that this training was led in part by two volunteers from Atwater Village who just recently got into this work and now are already training dozens of others. 
 
Visit bit.ly/CD13RRN to sign up to receive updates about our next Rapid Response training!
 

 

Rapid Response Meeting Picture

 

2. Keeping it Clean in District 13!

It should be easy to get trash and bulky items off our streets and sidewalks — and now it is!

We’ve invested over $1.2 million in supplemental trash pickup, graffiti abatement, and community beautification to supplement our core city services that have been gutted by decades of disinvestment and neglect.

Now, you can easily report trash or other issues on the 311 app, and then email your request number to our office and we can expedite a resolution by calling in our extra crews!