Prudent Plan for Police

Members of the Los Angeles City Council have voted to ask voters to endorse a new property tax to pay for 1,000 additional police. The vote is a sound first step toward a larger police force.

The plan, approved after months of debate, will appear on the June 4 ballot. At least two-thirds of Los Angeles voters must agree to the proposal if it is to become law.

If the tax passes, the average homeowner will pay less than $5 a month to expand the Los Angeles Police Department over a five-year period to 8,000 officers, a strength more in keeping with the size of this sprawling city.

Mayor Tom Bradley is behind the plan. It is a compromise that he advocated in an effort to move beyond discussion to action. His mayoral opponent, Councilman John Ferraro, also favors more police but opposes a new tax, claiming--so far without supporting evidence--that budget cuts and shifts could finance the expansion at no cost to taxpayers.

For the 12 council members who voted for the measure, the easy task is finished. Now they must persuade constituents that the plan is sound and that the cost, compared with the benefits, is modest. Some cost questions the voters will answer themselves: What is the price of peace of mind in neighborhoods where crime is a problem, for children trying to dodge gang turf or elderly women fighting off purse-snatchers, for families hit not once or twice but four times by burglars?

The toughest question--how the officers will be divided among divisions in a city that has too few on patrol--must be answered by the Police Commission. The council action adds urgency to the commission’s task of finding that answer.

For less than it costs to see “Beverly Hills Cop,� the voters can see more real cops on the streets of Los Angeles. The council has cleared the way. With answers to questions on details, the voters will do the rest.