A request by Los Angeles police officers to increase staffing and purchase new vehicles in time for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games has met with deep skepticism from City Council members who are concerned about funding amid uncertainty about plans to secure the venues.
During an hour-long budget hearing Tuesday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell reiterated a warning he has issued in recent months, suggesting that public safety would suffer if the city does not hire more officers to replace the hundreds of people leaving the department over the next two years.
Despite recent recruitment gains, McDonnell said the council now needed to fund new appointments, so the department could prepare staff in time for the Olympics. Under the current security plan, the LAPD will supply about 2,400 officers, or less than a third of the total number of officers needed to police the games.
The LAPD is requesting 520 new police hires for the next fiscal year, which would increase the 8,600-member department by about 10 officers, with 510 officers projected to retire.
The department is requesting about $100 million from the city to purchase more than 500 new vehicles for the games, as well as equipment such as an upgraded radio network, new computers and more than 1,600 body cameras. LAPD officials said that after the Games, the vehicles will be used to upgrade the department’s aging fleet.
LAPD Commander. Mario Mota told council members at Tuesday’s hearing that hundreds of the new vehicles will patrol eight Olympic sites within city limits. He said the additional patrol cars and other specialized vehicles would allow police to continue normal operations elsewhere for 66 days between the start of the Olympic Games on July 14 and the end of the Paralympic Games.
LAPD officials said it is a misconception that federal officials will lead all security operations at Olympic sites. In fact, the federal priority will be the security of international delegations and the security of high-security areas, while the LAPD and other state and local agencies will be responsible for the security of the areas where most Olympics-related events are being held. The LAPD will still respond to 911 calls within city limits.
The US Secret Service has not yet released details on how many federal agents will flood secure areas around the venues, which include the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park and Crypto.com Arena.
Some L.A. officials have expressed growing fear that taxpayers and the city coffers could face serious costs if the city does not reach a tough deal with LA28, the nonprofit that organizes the games, to ensure a “zero-cost” event.
The federal government has set aside $1 billion for Olympic security expenses, including local and state law enforcement, but has provided few details about when and how it will distribute those funds amid concerns that President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress may not follow through on its funding pledge. The exact cost to LA and other local governments remains unknown, as officials wait to hear from federal security agencies about what services will be needed.
Police officials previously told the department’s civilian watchdog that the city must allocate funds to the LAPD before the federal government can say how much it will reimburse.
That uncertainty didn’t sit well with some council members.
“What is the LAPD’s role within the perimeter of the sites?” Council Member Katy Yaroslavsky, who heads the Budget Committee, asked at one point during the meeting. “The fact that we haven’t resolved this and it feels like we’re having two conversations — it’s confusing and disappointing.”
Some council members questioned whether the new vehicles in the budget proposal were necessary – and fiscally responsible.
When asked why they couldn’t lease squad cars or reuse existing vehicles, an LAPD official admitted that those options had not been explored – to which Council Member Tim McCosker responded sharply.
Some of the concerns raised by the City Council echoed activists and other observers, who point to the LAPD’s increased militarization after the 1984 Summer Olympics – when it acquired new equipment that some say was disproportionately used against communities of color in subsequent years.
Security preparations for the Olympics have been going on for years. The LAPD has sent delegations to Italy and France to observe security measures in the host countries. But in other ways progress has been slow. Several months earlier, McDonnell quietly replaced the department’s Olympic chief, Commander. Hameed Mohammadi, with Deputy Chief Billy Brockway.
“We’re headed in the wrong direction as far as personnel is concerned,” McDonnell said. In total, police officials estimated that 30,000 law enforcement personnel from various state and local agencies would be involved in the security operations.
Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for re-election, once hoped to bring the LAPD back to 9,500 officers – the size it was when she took office. But amid a continuing budget crisis, she recently said she was focusing more on keeping the department from getting smaller.
Overtime and any other major expenses for Los Angeles police officers recently will be felt keenly by the city government Close budget deficit of nearly $1 billionPartly by slowing police recruitment. The police union may try to negotiate bonuses, hazard and additional pay for officers working at the games when their contracts expire next June.
The final US host city, Salt Lake City, had a very small police department, but benefited from federal funding and mutual aid agreements with neighboring agencies. Under California law, LAPD officials said, law enforcement agencies can enter into mutual aid agreements only after a state of emergency has been declared, such as after a natural disaster.
Several council members asked whether the department had considered lobbying to change state law; LAPD officials admitted they did not do it.
Some on the council also questioned whether the department should do more to delegate administrative tasks to sworn officers that civilian employees could handle.
Times staff writer James Rennie contributed to this report.
