We don’t often agree with D.C. Councilman Marion Barry, but he was right on the money when he demanded scrutiny of the Metropolitan Police Department’s top-heavy compensation policy. “It should be going to the officers on the street,” Barry said. He’s right. Police Chief Cathy Lanier testified that she is losing 15 veteran police officers a month, and a hiring freeze has brought the force perilously close to dipping below 3,800 – at which point the balance shifts to the criminals’ side of the ledger. Lanier blames previous budget cuts for the current predicament, but she is part of the problem. As The Examiner’s Freeman Klopott reported, the number of top cops making six-figure salaries jumped 30 percent during her tenure, including $110,730 paid to one inspector whose primary job is updating the chief’s email and calendar. Lanier is following a well-trod bureaucratic path by larding up pay and perks for her top staff instead of concentrating all available resources on the front lines.

Councilman Phil Mendelson, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, told Lanier point-blank that her budget is large enough to maintain an adequate force, and Finance Committee Chairman Jack Evans introduced a bill requiring that she maintain a minimum of 4,000 sworn officers. This is easier said than done when there’s only enough in Mayor Vince Gray’s $9.5 billion budget proposal to hire 120 new officers — not enough to keep the force at its current level, let alone replace the 250 who will depart by the end of the year.