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There may be a $405-million budget shortfall, but that's not going to affect the levels of police officers employed by the city, according to an accord reached yesterday by a couple City Councilmembers and Mayor Antonio Villaragosa.
The Mayor has a goal of hiring 1,000 more officers, which near completion, but compromised with councilmembers to temporarily cut the academy for the rest of 2009. The move should allow staffing levels to keep current. When officers retire, new officers will graduate the academy, but the force will not significantly grow for the time being.