L.A. mayor reverses stand on hiring cops

In an abrupt reversal, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday appeared to back a plan to freeze hiring at the Police Academy at least throughout the rest of this year.

[California SUCKS]

Step right up, one and ALL !!...BoBo the CLOWN will be performing daily at City Hall until you vote him out.

"I care more about results than process," Villaraigosa said...Lets get it straight once and for all people...Greasy Tony is hardly even a part of the process and wanting results is only built around taxing the people of this city until they can take it no longer and they eventually leave CA thus making more space for more hispanics, which will blindly vote for him. They say that crime is down in this city?...3 houses have been robbed on my street during day light hours. These police reports have been shuffled under a filing cabinet as during a search of the LAPD crime data base they never came up as ever happening. What does that tell you for the whole city when it comes to crime stats?...The real crime numbers are not being reports

Remember the added tax for solid waste fees to cover the specific cost of hiring additional police officers?...When they fail to spend your tax dollars on such services, its generally thought be a taxation without representation.

Too bad none of us has the balls to stand up with the masses to fight this kind of robbery in your own home. Its a bit like someone coming to your front door early on a particular day of the week...every week...and pointing a gun at your face and demanding you pay them a few beyond your property tax to remove your garbage. You have no option but to pay $1000 a year to the city of los angeles to have your trash removed having been sold the idea that it would put more police on the street. Its all a bunch of lies to bleed your wallet.

[james]

Whoever wrote this article is a total douche. The mayor didn't reverse his stand, he adjusted to the current times and times are tough. When the Mayor proposed hiring 10,000 police officers YEARS ago, the economy wasn't in the same state as it is now.

[david barron]

Wow ! A shooting took place just 3 blocks away from the Van Nuys police station....How many officers that are assigned behind desks, could have been on the streets instead, if they were physically able.
If only the mayor didn't make promises that he knew he couldn't keep. Apparently, a trend of his to get votes. If only the mayor would not have ignored the warnings from his administrative analyst that he was over spending. The mayor is having a difficult time delivering on his promise because he spent the money. Now he's asking, and expecting city workers, and the public to give him more, and more money. Perhaps, he just sees the public as bankers, and not wage earners. Last year his office budget was $8.8 million dollars. This year he increased it to $26 million dollars !(page 26 or 400 of city budget)
Law enforcement should be left to law enforcement, not to multi-million dollar gang intervention programs funded by taxpayers with little accountabillity. If the gang administrators really care about kids at risk, then, let them show their determination by raising funds through private fundraisers.
Mayor should keep the oath he recited when he was sworn into office. Better yet, he should quickly resign, or settle the city's deplorable deficit issues that he created as CEO of LA. Then the city could consider hiring additonal officers.

Respectfully,
david barron

[Walter Moore]

Villaraigosa CREATED the "tough" times by overspending year after year, despite written warnings from the CAO that he was spending more than the City was taking in -- and that took some doing, because revenues have skyrocketed every year but this one.

Villaraigosa is selling out public safety, and he is doing so unjustifiably. Rather than halting the pathetically slow growth of the under-manned police department, he should cut the hundreds of millions of dollars of annual subsidies to billionaire developers through the CRA.

[mbaffo]

Tony V is a tool. He had to make this decision because there's no money. The city will continue to become a third world country because businessess will tire of being shaken down and move elsewhere. What will be the next tax to raise? Is it possible that crime has decreased because a lot of the riff raff has moved to Palmdale and Lancaster?

[OhYeah]

What's the difference of small mom & pops being "taxed" by a neighborhood gang for "protection" in the hood, and the mom & pops of the city being taxed for "protection" from the gangs?

Answer: Nothing. Tony is the ultimate shot caller of the biggest gang in LA. Lies, lies and more lies.

[Fed Up]

Just hope Bratton's concern isn't proved right, that once the Council halts THIS class of LAPD recruits, they'll do it again... and again... that would make it even harder to recruit top-flight people and retain them when they can't be sure when they'll be hired even if they qualify. If attrition is lower than they expected (maybe with this economy more want to keep working, or they just like their jobs) they could do with smaller but more continuous classes..

What about hiring the 16 lab scientists needed to test the rape DNA kits in-house, so they won't have to keep outsourcing them to the more expensive labs? Will the Council continue to honor that plan?

[Wow]

Tony Villar for presedent. the first gang banger presedent ever.

[Mark]

Yup, don't even consider cutting money to illegals and their 8 zillion babies. Don't consider cutting out food stamps, WIC, housing, free education, graffiti cleanup, incarcerating illegals...and it goes on and on. We need more cops, not more union workers, politicians, government workers who protest having to work on Columbus day, so they just don't show up at the DMV...lazy, fat losers!

We've lost our minds in California. It's no wonder why productive people and businesses are fleeing this state in droves!

[on the job]

Fed Up wrote:

Just hope Bratton's concern isn't proved right, that once the Council halts THIS class of LAPD recruits, they'll do it again... and again... that would make it even harder to recruit top-flight people and retain them when they can't be sure when they'll be hired even if they qualify. If attrition is lower than they expected (maybe with this economy more want to keep working, or they just like their jobs) they could do with smaller but more continuous classes..
What about hiring the 16 lab scientists needed to test the rape DNA kits in-house, so they won't have to keep outsourcing them to the more expensive labs? Will the Council continue to honor that plan?

We do need more officers. But what w also need is to get the able body officers who are working non-police jobs (jobs that civilian workers should be doing) and put them in the patrol cars. We also need to slim down some specialized units and put them back to the divisions then we will be able o cope better with the amount of police we have. We need to put the light duty officers into the desk jobs and the able bodies on the streets. No more excuses. jobs. When I came on, roll calls were packed and we had at least 2000 less officers. Bring them back to the divisions. Get your tax money worth.

[Jake]

Tony was vetted by Zionists in Israel to continue the globalist agenda. An agenda which includes dismantling America, destroying the middle class and offering "world government" as the saving option. Of course the US Constitution is toast. Watch the interview Bill Moyers ran talking about the banker coup. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/wa...

[Ayahuasca Shaman]

California SUCKS wrote:

Step right up, one and ALL !!...BoBo the CLOWN will be performing daily at City Hall until you vote him out.
"I care more about results than process," Villaraigosa said...Lets get it straight once and for all people...Greasy Tony is hardly even a part of the process and wanting results is only built around taxing the people of this city until they can take it no longer and they eventually leave CA thus making more space for more hispanics, which will blindly vote for him. They say that crime is down in this city?...3 houses have been robbed on my street during day light hours. These police reports have been shuffled under a filing cabinet as during a search of the LAPD crime data base they never came up as ever happening. What does that tell you for the whole city when it comes to crime stats?...The real crime numbers are not being reports
Remember the added tax for solid waste fees to cover the specific cost of hiring additional police officers?...When they fail to spend your tax dollars on such services, its generally thought be a taxation without representation.
Too bad none of us has the balls to stand up with the masses to fight this kind of robbery in your own home. Its a bit like someone coming to your front door early on a particular day of the week...every week...and pointing a gun at your face and demanding you pay them a few beyond your property tax to remove your garbage. You have no option but to pay $1000 a year to the city of los angeles to have your trash removed having been sold the idea that it would put more police on the street. Its all a bunch of lies to bleed your wallet.

It's a way of life, in the People's Republic of California.

[Dennis]

Once again the Mayor is a hypocrite. He sure didnt' say this at the big Neighborhood congress on Saturday. He said city council made promises and now he's going back on that same promise to use the trash fee hike to hire police officers. The city collects over $137 MILLION and they have only used $42 million to hire police officers. Where is all that other money going?? I hope a reporter investigates and does a good story on the corruption in city hall.

[Valley Cynic]

The last rat left the sinking financial ship leaving us to defend ourselves from the gangs and criminals.
They're not hiring cops...even for 2-1/2 months!
I want my communications and triple trash fee hikes REFUNDED!

[sndpppr]

Dennis wrote:

Once again the Mayor is a hypocrite. He sure didnt' say this at the big Neighborhood congress on Saturday. He said city council made promises and now he's going back on that same promise to use the trash fee hike to hire police officers. The city collects over $137 MILLION and they have only used $42 million to hire police officers. Where is all that other money going?? I hope a reporter investigates and does a good story on the corruption in city hall.

Ha!!!! Reporter? they are a dying breed.......... special interest mouth pieces and opinion jourlaist are what is being pump out of the schools these days.....

[Vince]

As bad as it sounds , what the LAPD needs is to stop being so politically correct. Put the Women with the Big Tits doing Paperwork and not in the Street other than to frisk Women. Then get back to having the Bad Ass Whiteboys from the Farms Kick Ass. Then 10000 Cops won't be needed. You'll only need 3000. Enforce Immigration Law also.

[Bureaucratic Mess]

Enough of this!!! Taxes and fees were raised on the promise to hire cops and make Angelenos safer ... not to give raises to bureaucrats and fatten their retirement plans!

It's time to get some serious TEA Parties going over at LA City Hall. The system is completely corrupted.

This poor economy could be the best thing that could happen for taxpayers if we use it as an opportunity to reform out-of-control government spending. Without it, the politicians and their labor union financers would have continued as usual, spending every new penny of tax revenues on their salaries and benefits. Note that this pathetic mayor and city council have raised taxes using lies and deception to levels at which taxpayers are finally rebelling. They've delayed making spending cuts desperately hoping that a miracle would happen and the economy would quickly recover.

Meanwhile, Nevada and other states and cities are taking advantage of the greed and stupidity of California's politicians and public unions by heavily advertising on television that they have no corporate income taxes, no personal income taxes, and are business-friendly -- all to draw even more businesses and responsible citizens away from California.

California and its union-dominated cities are imploding under the weight of greed, stupidity, and outright corruption.

We need to rescue ourselves because nobody else is going to do it. The vultures are circling.

In order to save CA we must:

1) abolish labor unions, especially in government
2) enact tort reform
3) cap judgements to people who sue government
4) reduce taxes, both number and rate
5) abolish the CA income tax
6) get rid of the gerrymandered voting districts
7) make LA city council and CA legislature part-time positions
8) abolish all welfare and entitlements to illegal aliens
9) cut labor costs across the board in state and local governments
10) decriminalize drug use, prostitution and gambling
11) reduce government red tape and unnecessary paperwork
12) create a secure but Web-based state voter system to encourage more people to vote and reduce election costs
13) eliminate failed and duplicative government programs
14) ensure no changes to Prop 13
15) eliminate all bilingual documents and programs
16) balance environmental concerns with economic and people concerns
17) reject that anthropomorphic global warming is scientifically proven and stop PC politics from making Californians pay for programs and controls that do little or nothing to "save the world."
18) offer graduation certificates after the 10th grade and then provide vouchers for kids under 20 to pursue vocational training in private schools
19) end the practice of tenure in the state college system
20) eliminate useless majors of study in the public college system, like Chicano/African/Asian Studies, that don't lead to good paying jobs
21) create tent prisons in the desert similar to those in Phoenix that ensure captivity while reducing costs
22) use prison labor to supplement and/or replace many government jobs on tasks like grafitti removal, freeway cleaning, ditch digging, etc
23) eliminate the nepotism and cronyism that ensures government jobs for the favored few and grossly lucrative "appointments" on do-little boards and commissions

[Poco Loco]

Mark wrote:

Yup, don't even consider cutting money to illegals and their 8 zillion babies. Don't consider cutting out food stamps, WIC, housing, free education, graffiti cleanup, incarcerating illegals...and it goes on and on. We need more cops, not more union workers, politicians, government workers who protest having to work on Columbus day, so they just don't show up at the DMV...lazy, fat losers!
We've lost our minds in California. It's no wonder why productive people and businesses are fleeing this state in droves!

Cut $$$$ to illegals? Heck, he would never get re-elected. They all voted for him......ILLEGALLY

[Jan]

ARMENIANS ARE PERFECT wrote:

<quoted text>Why has it got to be ZIONISTS? You frigging Nazi Butthole. How about Liberal, Sodomites, and Pro-Abortion scumsuckers? Hot Pants Tony, took the Cross off the County Seal, and left a Roman Goddess on. Ex-A.C.L.U. says it all.

Just going by what politicians are saying. Look at what is said before calling me a Nazi. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/wa...

http://www.examiner.com/x-17078-Lafayette-Pol...

[tgrrl]

Bureaucratic Mess wrote:

Enough of this!!! Taxes and fees were raised on the promise to hire cops and make Angelenos safer ... not to give raises to bureaucrats and fatten their retirement plans!
It's time to get some serious TEA Parties going over at LA City Hall. The system is completely corrupted.
This poor economy could be the best thing that could happen for taxpayers if we use it as an opportunity to reform out-of-control government spending. Without it, the politicians and their labor union financers would have continued as usual, spending every new penny of tax revenues on their salaries and benefits. Note that this pathetic mayor and city council have raised taxes using lies and deception to levels at which taxpayers are finally rebelling. They've delayed making spending cuts desperately hoping that a miracle would happen and the economy would quickly recover.
Meanwhile, Nevada and other states and cities are taking advantage of the greed and stupidity of California's politicians and public unions by heavily advertising on television that they have no corporate income taxes, no personal income taxes, and are business-friendly -- all to draw even more businesses and responsible citizens away from California.
California and its union-dominated cities are imploding under the weight of greed, stupidity, and outright corruption.
We need to rescue ourselves because nobody else is going to do it. The vultures are circling.
In order to save CA we must:
1) abolish labor unions, especially in government
2) enact tort reform
3) cap judgements to people who sue government
4) reduce taxes, both number and rate
5) abolish the CA income tax
6) get rid of the gerrymandered voting districts
7) make LA city council and CA legislature part-time positions
8) abolish all welfare and entitlements to illegal aliens
9) cut labor costs across the board in state and local governments
10) decriminalize drug use, prostitution and gambling
11) reduce government red tape and unnecessary paperwork
12) create a secure but Web-based state voter system to encourage more people to vote and reduce election costs
13) eliminate failed and duplicative government programs
14) ensure no changes to Prop 13
15) eliminate all bilingual documents and programs
16) balance environmental concerns with economic and people concerns
17) reject that anthropomorphic global warming is scientifically proven and stop PC politics from making Californians pay for programs and controls that do little or nothing to "save the world."
18) offer graduation certificates after the 10th grade and then provide vouchers for kids under 20 to pursue vocational training in private schools
19) end the practice of tenure in the state college system
20) eliminate useless majors of study in the public college system, like Chicano/African/Asian Studies, that don't lead to good paying jobs
21) create tent prisons in the desert similar to those in Phoenix that ensure captivity while reducing costs
22) use prison labor to supplement and/or replace many government jobs on tasks like grafitti removal, freeway cleaning, ditch digging, etc
23) eliminate the nepotism and cronyism that ensures government jobs for the favored few and grossly lucrative "appointments" on do-little boards and commissions

With the exception of #17 in your list because, as a mom, I am more concerned about pollution than global warming; however, anything that will lower the levels of pollution in our environment needs to be addressed. Change has to come and CA needs to be viewed as a business, not a charity. I was born and raised in the Valley and have seen it become increasingly seedier and dirtier. I am sick of it! I think the things you have proposes make sense and even if half of the ideas could stick, the change would be immeasurable. I think you should run for mayor! Can we file a petition to have our wonderful mayor A.V. recalled?