For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jude Schneider (310) 497-7312 or
Eric Rose (805) 624-0572
Los Angeles, January 22, 2009 – In response to the report released today by City Controller Laura Chick covering the City's take-home cars for elected officials, staff, general managers, LAFD and LAPD; the City's central fleet of passenger vehicles; and fuel usage; Paul M. Weber, President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, issued the following statement:
“The LAPPL believes Ms. Chick is a very effective watchdog for the City of Los Angeles. She has a long track record of exposing dysfunctional programs and fraud in City government. As a social worker, she has always applied an intelligent and well- balanced approach to public policy. The review failed to address the critical public policy issue at stake – is the community better off with officers having assigned emergency-response vehicles? The auditors, disregarding the priceless benefit of responsive law enforcement, merely applied accounting principles – not public safety measurements.”
“Off-duty officers and detectives called to crime and disaster scenes often live dozens of miles from their stations. The time they would lose responding to emergencies by driving to their stations to pick up an official vehicle, potentially bypassing the actual crime scene, could easily mean the difference between life and death, between a murderer being caught or escaping.”
“On an even larger scale, it’s important to keep in mind that the LAPD must be ready to respond quickly with the proper equipment to anything from a major terrorist attack, earthquake or massive power outage, to riots, train wrecks and literally hundreds of other contingencies. Los Angeles traffic is, of course, infamous worldwide for the challenges it poses to anyone trying to get somewhere quickly. But even in the smallest cities of America, police chiefs and city councils understand the value taxpayers receive from providing on-call police officers with official vehicles at the ready, 24/7.
“We are always ready to do whatever it takes to make the people of Los Angeles as safe as possible. We are currently experiencing very low crime levels that this City hasn’t seen, depending on the category, since the 1960s. That’s what we signed up for. But we can only continue to do our jobs well if we are not hampered by those who want to save a little money at the expense of effective public safety.”
About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,000 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at www.LAPD.com
