It may be Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's goal to not layoff police officers, but attrition and budget cuts to overtime have the department struggling to meet its staffing goals. Chief Charlie Beck today said to the LA Times that he's in the process of transferring 350 officers from specialized units to patrol duty. more ›

More examples of delayed fire department responses linked to budget cuts are coming to light. One of the most recent incidents involved a 22-year-old South L.A. woman suffering from a cardiac arrest. "Normally, the closest paramedic-staffed engine would have been a half-mile away," explained the LA Times. "However, that engine had been shut down and a unit 1.7 miles away responded instead, arriving four minutes after the alarm was sounded, according to fire officials. An ambulance with two paramedics took eight minutes to get to the scene." She later died at the hospital. more ›

The Daily News has published their analysis of LAFD salaries and overtime pay, and the results might have some folks feeling burned. The report shows that overtime pay has risen 60% in the past ten years with a personnel increase of only 17% (to 3, 586 firefighters), and "there is no real effort to rein in the expense despite the city's budget crisis." more ›

It wasn't the $25,000 the LAPD spent to help Britney Spears get to the hospital last year, but the La Habra police department estimates that more than $4,000 in resources have been used to help Octomom Nadya Suleman. Specifically, $4,000 has been spent on overtime for officers, but other costs such as responding to calls were not factored, says the Pasadena Star News. "Virtually all police services are free to residents of the community," said Cindy Knapp, spokeswoman for the La Habra Police Department. "There are no legal provisions or paths for cost recovery under the specific circumstances or service provided to the Sulemans at this point." Police began to help Suleman after she brought home the first two babies and was swarmed by paparazzi (see the crazy video here). more ›