Greetings from the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department. The following is the monthly update for October 2005. We hope you find the information useful. You are encouraged to continue to visit our website at www.lapdonline.org as it has recently been redesigned and updated. CHIEF’S MESSAGE The LAPD Family The public perception of a law enforcement organization is that we are an agency of officers. The uniform solidifies that perception as our non- sworn personnel simply disappear or fade into the general population once they leave an Area station, a Bureau office, or Parker Center. Even internally, the term “civilian” means either a Department employee whom officers work with daily or a member of the public that officers are sworn to protect and to serve. When the former Board of Police Commissioners held its final meeting on August 16, each of the outgoing commissioners commented on the fine work of the men and women of the LAPD. In Commissioner Rick Caruso’s comments, he spoke about the officers in the field and the civilians behind the desks and stated that collectively, these are the people that make the Department work. I couldn’t agree more. It is the synergy between both of these diverse yet distinct groups of employees that makes this Department truly outstanding. Our civilian workforce is an essential component in the day-to-day workings of the Department. We currently have just over three thousand civilian employees. That’s a ratio of approximately one to every three officers. They fill roles in the Department’s administrative framework that cannot and/or should not be filled by police officers. In addition, civilian employees also play an integral role in operations and support positions to the officers on the streets. Civilian employees are the communication link for officers in the field. It is Police Service Representatives, or PSRs, who staff the radio communications systems. Civilians in the Scientific Investigation Division run the tests that solidify or clarify the evidence, helping to solve the thousands of crimes committed in the City. Non-sworn Property Officers coordinate enormous amounts of evidence while non-sworn Detention Officers maintain the responsibilities over those arrested and in the Department’s custody. Management Analysts working in our Crime Analysis Details are the civilian support that powers our CompStat system. And finally, our clerical staff members are the heart of our enormous record keeping systems. For the past several years, the City of Los Angeles has been under some type of hiring restrictions or freeze. This has severely hampered my efforts to get more officers out on the streets, not only because of an inability to hire significantly more officers, but also by making it nearly impossible to fill civilian vacancies that are crucial to the ongoing operations of this Department. Because of the critical nature of these positions, police officers have been used to fill in as needed, limiting the amount of officers available for field operations. At its lowest point in January 2005, the Department’s civilian vacancy rate was nearly 20 percent, or 706 employees below our authorized 3,605 civilian positions. Fortunately, as of July 5, 2005, the City Council voted to lift the hiring freeze and the Department is currently in the process of hiring to fill 579 existing civilian vacancies. Our Personnel Division -- an almost entirely civilianized entity -- and most notably the Civilian Employment Section, has been working at a frenzied pace since the lifting of the freeze to hire approximately 50 PSRs, 70 Management Analysts, 80 Clerk Typists, 75 Senior Clerk Typists, 20 Senior Management Analysts, 10 Principal Police Clerks, and 80 Police Student Workers. This month we hope to hire 25 Detention Officers. In Spring 2006, ten Property Officers will also be hired. In many cases, the vacancies represent promotional and paygrade advancement opportunities for current Department employees and will allow us to retain the best and the brightest of our police civilian personnel. In speaking about the men and women of this Department, I would be remiss by not recognizing the sincere dedication of our volunteer component. With more than 600 reserve officers and roughly the same number of civilian volunteers, these individuals answer to a truly altruistic calling, receiving no monetary compensation for their service to the people of Los Angeles. Although they do not receive a paycheck, they are an essential part of this organization and valued members of the LAPD family. Every employee and volunteer in this Department, both sworn and civilian, fills an important role in protecting and serving the people of Los Angeles. Whether they may sit behind a communications console, a computer, or the steering wheel of a black and white, they may work behind a camera, a microscope, or a detective’s desk -- all the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department represent the finest in the law enforcement profession. CRIME STATISTICS - CITY-WIDE Year to Date as of October 1, 2005 Homicide Down -10.3% Rape Down -21.8% Robbery Down -7.1% Aggravated Assault Down -41.1% --------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL VIOLENT CRIMES Down -28.9% Burglary Down -7.6% Burglary/Theft from Vehicle Down -14.0% Personal/Other Theft Down -12.1% Auto Theft Down -7.9% --------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL PROPERTY CRIMES Down -10.9% TOTAL PART 1 CRIMES Down -15.5% WILLIAM J. BRATTON Chief of Police To unsubscribe from this newsletter please click on this link http://listserv.lacity.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=lapd_monthly&A=1