<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654898547734,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000177-ab1c-dfb6-afff-bf5d00c50003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654898547734,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000177-ab1c-dfb6-afff-bf5d00c50003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54882912", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1030046"} }); ","_id":"00000181-4fa3-d1f1-a1c3-7fe3bf460000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe cost of living is so exorbitant in Los Angeles that officials are trying to lure new police officers there with a rent subsidy to patch a hole of 662 vacancies.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which has seen a mass exodus of officers amid the “defund the police” movement and progressive laws stripping them of enforcement powers, had 9,352 sworn officers as of May 7, compared to 10,014 in September 2017, said Dennis Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant and city councilman.
He is currently co-chairman of the campaign to recall George Gascon, the city’s liberal district attorney.
“We had ‘defund the police,’ then Black Lives Matter jumped in saying, ‘We don’t need the police,’” Zine told the Washington Examiner. “The whole focus was to turn this into a social experiment. Police officers need respect, and that went out the window. So why would I want to be a police officer and get shot at? It doesn’t pay.”
Cost of Living in Los Angeles.pngAnd nowhere is that more apparent than Los Angeles, which has a cost of living 43% higher than the national average. The biggest factor is housing, which is 127% higher than the rest of the United States, Payscale.com reported.
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Prices of all goods rose an average of 8% during the past year, according to the consumer price index.
But a $70,000 starting salary for new officers doesn’t go very far in this environment. Enter the private sector, which plans to create stipends for recruits who don’t have relatives to house them or a second job to pay the rent.
“We’ve got a crisis going on right now,” Steve Soboroff, former LAPD commissioner and business leader, told the Los Angeles Business Journal. “City leaders and candidates are calling for the hiring of more officers — some candidates saying as many as 1,500 officers. But, in reality, we are losing 300 officers a year because they cannot afford to live here. We need to add this quiver to our recruiting as soon as possible.”
Approximately $1 million has been raised in the past two months by real estate and financial firms to create the fund. The stipends will go directly toward rent, which tops out at $3,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Recruits can afford approximately $1,500 per month, Soboroff said.
Tycoon Rick Caruso made the runoff in the Los Angeles mayoral race with a platform of building a strong police force. He wants to add another 1,500 officers.
But unless the hostile environment changes for police officers, the stipend may not make a huge dent, Zine said.
“They are trying to build an incentive, but you can make that kind of money in the private sector,” Zine said. He recalled spending just $150 a month for a Westside Los Angeles apartment when starting out in the early 1970s.
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For officers who are trying to do their job but are vilified after someone resisting arrest gets injured, a career in policing may not be worth it in the current climate, Zine said.
