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LA Council approves $1.8M in new spending for LAPD, but it's less than Bass wanted
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and Capt. James Hwang (left) perform the uniform inspection during graduation at the Los Angeles Police Academy in May.
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LA City Council votes to hire more LAPD recruits
The L.A. City Council voted Friday to partially fund Mayor Karen Bass’ proposal for more LAPD officers.
Topline:
The L.A. City Council approved about $1.8 million Friday to allow a new class of LAPD recruits to begin training in January. The funding will pay for up to 40 new LAPD officers.
Why it matters: Bass and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell have expressed concerns that the city needs more officers ahead of major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games. Until today, no funding had been identified for how to pay for those new officers.
The backstory: Over the summer, Bass and the City Council approved 240 new officer positions in the city's annual budget. LAPD met that hiring cap of 240 officers in under six months. In a letter to City Council members this week, Bass asked the council to approve $4.4 million in additional funds and officer jobs. Some council members pushed back.
Council members Katy Yaroslavsky and Tim McOsker told LAist they wanted the department to hire more officers, but they criticized the lack of a plan from Bass on how to pay for them. Council members Yaroslavsky, McOsker and Monica Rodriguez identified the funding that the council approved today.
Deft political maneuvering: Right before a vote on a motion introduced by Councilmember John Lee to provide the full funding Bass requested, Yaroslavsky asked for an amendment to replace the text of his motion with her own. The move avoided a vote on Lee’s motion, and after a failed attempt to reinsert his own text, Lee voted in approval of the new motion to push the reduced $1.8 million in funding through.
Where the money is set to come from:
- $700,000 from the general fund leasing account.
- $1,077,890 from the Embrace LA account (part of the general fund).
Go deeper: Mayor Bass wants to hire more LAPD officers. City officials doubt LA can afford it
Corrected December 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM PST
An earlier version of this story misstated the amount the City Council approved on Friday. LAist regrets the error.
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