Chief Bratton Speaks to Val Zavala on KCET
(FROM PBS/KCET INTERVIEW)
Val Zavala>> Police Chief, Bill Bratton, has been Los Angeles's top cop for more than four years now. He came from New York where there are twice as many officers per resident as there are in Los Angeles. One of Bratton's biggest challenges has been to increase the number of officers on the force.
First, it was a money issue, but earlier this year, this Los Angeles City Council approved a hike in trash pickup fees. The additional millions will go to boost the force from about nine thousand officers to ten thousand. But qualified applicants are few and the competition among cities is fierce.
In July, a minor feud broke out between Bratton and the City Council over drug policy for recruits. Some council members criticize the policy. Bratton responded by saying they "don't know what the hell they're talking about." I sat down with Chief Bratton to hear what he has to say about city politics and the recruitment challenge. One of your biggest challenges is recruitment. You want to hire a thousand new officers over the next five years. Why is it so hard?
[Go to http://zumadogg.blogspot.com to read transcript of this great interview. WAY TO GO VAL!]
Posted by Zuma Dogg @ 10/04/2006 08:45:00 PM
4 Comments:
>>Why is it so hard?
Because the city leaders, some council members, the police commission, and many residents of communities of the City of Los Angeles treat police officers like they are the criminals. In most of the other desirable cities they are treated deference and respect.
Thank you for keeping your post at an acceptably short length ZD. When people want to read long articles, they read newspapers.
Now, let's work on that ANNOYING SCREAMING!!!! STOP SCREAMING!!!!!
When are you going to figure out that when you talk, people listen to what you have to say. When you SCREAM all they want is for you to shut the fuck up. So stop screaming.
Thanks Zuma. It would have been nice to get this before it aired. I totally agree with 9:26pm. When you have a racist president, John Mack of the police commission who only cares about his "south la community" and is stupid enough to always state it that's the reason why recruits don't want to come to LA. Then you have the lamest Clowncil in the nation who NEVER support their officers. Why would any recruits come to LA when they get paid $20,000 more in surrounding areas and a city that supports them and respects them? I find it laughable that Mack and his counter parts did a yearly evaluation on Bratton. Yet, this is the MAck that used his position as police commission president to hold fundraiser for two time felon Martin Ludlow. WE need to get rid of his ass off that board. Cops hate him.
Many police officers are treated like criminals because they act like criminals. This metro area is a tough one to deal with. We ask our cops not to be racist when most of us are. Not to be violent when our chiildren are. The list is never-ending.
Furthermore, the story of crime rate going down in NYC when this Bratton guy was there is baloney. I read a long article about this crime rate miracle in NYC. Theft and small stuff went down. Murder in the Bronx and Harlem didn't.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home