The candidates are largely alike on public safety issues. All three support Mayor Karen Bass’ long-term goal of reinstating 9,500 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department. (Last month, it was 8,640.)
Gaspar, 44, thinks the goal doesn’t go far enough. He wants the department to have 10,000 officers, which it last had in 2020. He points to his experience a few years ago when his family’s home was burgled.
“When I called 911, this is no exaggeration, I was on hold for 30 minutes before I got a person. A whole thirty minutes,” he said. “This is something that points to the city being broken.”
Worth Girvan, 42, said she also wants the LAPD to have 10,000 officers back, a goal first accomplished in 2013 by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was her boss for many years.
Celona, 46, was less specific about the number of officers needed but voiced general support for the mayor’s hiring goal.
All three also spoke in favor of pay increases Bass negotiated with the city’s police union, which critics said were too expensive. Supporters say the pay increase will keep officers, especially new hires, from being lured away to other law enforcement agencies.
“I’ve met a lot of LAPD officers and they keep telling me they train here, but then we lose them,” Worth Girvan said.
