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LAPD Commission approves changes to stun gun policy
City commission OKs Studio City project despite community opposition
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INDEPENDENT V I S I T B U R B A N K I N D E P E N D E N T. C O M
M O N D AY, A U G U S T 28- S E P T E M B E R 03, 2023
LA City Council approves nearly $1 billion police labor agreement By Jose Herrera, City News Service
the City Council for supporting this action and I look forward to working together to ensure that Angelenos are safe.” According to Bass’ office, the LAPD is expected to lose hundreds more officers in the coming year due to retirements and resignations. Since 2017, the LAPD has lost more than 430 officers in their first year and a half of duty. A significant amount of officers join other agencies before serving for 10 years. Matt Szabo, city administrative officer, confirmed that the cumulative cost of the contract will be $994 million. Under the new police labor contract, starting pay for a new recruit will begin at $86,193, a 12.6% increase from the current starting salary of $74,020. Additionally, the deal will also provide four raises of 3% over the next four years. Retention bonuses combined with scheduled pay increases will increase officers’ overall wages by a 6% raise in year one, a 4%
raise in year two, a 5% raise in year three and a 5% raise in year four. New officers from the Police Academy who remain with the LAPD for at least three years will earn $15,000 in bonuses, while officers who transfer to the department from other agencies and stay for at least three years will earn $20,000 in bonuses. By 2027, starting salary for new recruits will hit $94,000. Council members Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto- Martinez, who voted against the contract, called the deal “irresponsible.” Hernandez said the deal came at a time when several city unions are still in contract negotiations, and said the city already allocates a quarter of its general fund to the LAPD. “Our budget is a zero sum game. When we allocate so much of our city dollars to just one department we starve all of our other departments from the money, personnel and
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Prayer vigil held as cleanup begins following Cook’s Corner shooting
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By City News Service
resources that they need to serve Angelenos,” she said. Raman said the recruitment and retention issues are part of a national trend. “The vision we need to be working toward ... is that when someone shows up when you call for help, it’s the right person for whatever issue you’re facing,” Raman said. “I fear this contract with its enormous fiscal impact on the city makes us less capable of doing that.” But Councilwoman Traci Park called the contract “necessary” to address recruitment and retention of officers. “This contract demonstrates a commitment to our police officers,” Park said. “That’s long overdue, and it sends a message that Los Angeles takes public safety seriously. We’re not just going to put up with crime, and it means that we actually care about the men and women who work hard every day to keep us safe.” See Police labor Page 24
See Prayer vigil Page 02
(CC BY-SA 3.0) and Craig Baker/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
he Los Angeles City Council approved a four-year labor contract with the union representing Los Angeles Police Department officers, detectives and lieutenants Wednesday, with a series of bonuses and pay raises intended to address issues of retention and recruitment. The council voted 12-3 to approve the deal, which also includes increased health care benefits and patrol incentives. Mayor Karen Bass and members of the Los Angeles Police Protective League approved the deal earlier this month. The police labor agreement needed support from the council before it could be finalized. “Our police department, just like other major city police departments, is enduring a hiring and retention crisis,” Bass said in a statement following the vote. “Around the same time that we struck a tentative agreement, the LAPD sworn force dipped below 9,000 for the first time since 2002. I want to thank the leaders of
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prayer service was held Friday evening in memory of the three people killed and others affected by the mass shooting at the Cook’s Corner bar in Trabuco Canyon, while the investigation continues into the motivations of the retired police sergeant who carried out the massacre. Saddleback Church in Lake Forest hosted the prayer gathering. “This tragedy has left many friends and family members devastated, and many more members of the community shocked and dismayed,” the Rev. Andy Wood of Saddleback Church said in a statement. “This is a time we can come together and ask God for comfort and healing. The church is the fabric of any community and the source for hope. Saddleback is a community where we can grieve together, pray, serve, and support each other through every aspect of life.” The gathering was live-streamed on the church’s website. The church also welcomed people struggling to cope with the tragedy to reach out to its “pastoral care team” at 949-609-8000. Orange County officials reminded residents that mental health support and other resources can be accessed around the clock at 855-625-4657. The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cook’s Corner, billed as one of the most famous biker bars in Southern California, but also hailed by Orange County leaders as a gathering place for families and the community — particularly for its weekly Wednesday night spaghetti dinner special. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said the gunman — 59-year-old retired Ventura Police Department Sgt. John Snowling — entered the bar carrying two handguns and walked directly to his estranged wife, Marie, and shot her once. Marie Snowling’s family said she was shot once in the jaw. Snowling then shot the woman with whom his wife was dining. That woman, who has not yet been identified, managed to run outside the bar where she died. According to Barnes, Snowling then began firing randomly into the crowd. Two other men were killed, including 67-year-old John Leehey of Irvine. The other victim, who Barnes said was killed while trying to engage the gunman and halt the shooting, has not yet been identified. In addition to Marie Snowling, five other people were injured. Marie Snowling and an unidentified man were hospitalized in critical condition, while four other men suffered lesser injuries. One of those men, a cook at the restaurant, was shot in an arm. James O’Malley, who was at Cook’s Corner Wednesday night with Leehey, told reporters the pair were having a beer in the bar’s picnic area when they heard gunshots ring out and saw people running outside. He said they both also started to run, and he saw his friend fall to the ground. “I thought he tripped, and then my mind said, no, that wasn’t a trip because he didn’t even cushion his fall,” O’Malley told CBS2.
LAPD headquarters, left, and Los Angeles City Hall in downtown LA. | Photos courtesy of Downtowngal/Wikimedia Commons
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