4 ms·

I'm concerned you don't know the difference between the LAPD and the LA Sheriffs department. http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_146766.pdf http://file.lacounty.

I'm concerned you don't know the difference between the LAPD and the LA Sheriffs department. http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_146766.pdf http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_146766.pdf http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr69.htm http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr69.htm Iraq on the other hand had a population of 32.6 million people and 171,000 US troops over 168,753 square miles. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/12/02/Deployment-of-US-troops/UPI-93091259776903/ http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/12/02/Deployment-of... So we have as many LAPD and LASD officers per square mile (roughly) as we had troops deployed to Iraq per square mile. LA County: 25,000 officers. 4,752 square miles. About 5 per square mile [higher population density, so we'll call this roughly equivalent to Iraq] Iraq: 171,000 Soldiers. 168,753 square miles. About 1 per square mile. So, if we are going for equivalency, are you declaring LA county to be as dangerous as Iraq? And if so, why? Please understand that these 25,000 officers are equipped with a budget of around ~5 billion [200k per officer]. I didn't total up all the little cities, I'm just extrapolating based on the LAPD+LASD budget. http://useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/p/military_budget.htm http://useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/p/military_bud... Pay+Benefits per soldier is $110k. I doubt it costs $90k to equip a police officer every year. So, in theory, the LAPD+LASD should be properly equipped for a domestic policing force unless you think 90k/officer for support costs isn't enough? So when you say things like "Backup is 25 minutes away", I'm going to call bullshit. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/LAPD-Emergency-Response-Times-Not-Affected-by-Budget-Cuts-102403094.html http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/LAPD-Emergency-Respo... Also? Backup is about 6 minutes away. I think what you are seeing is not 'They are in shitty situations' but rather 'the budget is not being properly handled' combined with some prioritization like 'maybe we need to focus on providing the human beings with the equipment and care they need vs surveillance spending'. So, with all due respect, you are wrong.

Balgair 12y ago
Thank you! I have been lookign for these stats for a while, but didn't find them. To answer questions: No, LA is not NEARLY as bad as Baghdad after the fall. There are areas and situations where it MAY be comparable (Watts, '92, OJ, etc) but is 99% not even close to as bad. Interesting though, I wonder what the diff is between, say, NY or NOLA and LA in cops/mile and $/cop. Hell, Dallas-FW even, thats a comparable sprawl set of cities. 90k for a cop job in LA is not very good. But then again, I'm thinking my life is worth WAY more than 90k. Though it really depends on person and family history, I guess. Thank you most though for the 6 minutes stat. I had HEARD that LAPD was pretty isolated, but 6 minutes for average backup blows that out of the water for me. Still, I am not cop and I do not know if that is a long or acceptable time for backup (Obviously, compare to NYPD, London PD, Paris PD etc.). Still, you gotta check the data. It may be a gaussian distribution with a sigma of ~1 hour, we don't know, it may be ~30seconds for sigma. "the budget is not being properly handled" With LAPD, no! Surely you jest! Watts, Rampart, OJ, Rodney King, Dorner, the Sherrifs Dept THIS year? No, the LAPD just has a few bad apples. Thank you for the data, the time to source the data, and the sources themselves. This is why I come to HN, for the real story.
- opendais 12y ago
  Oh, no that wasn't salary, I was talking budget. Salary is 50-65k http://www.joinlapd.com/salary.html http://www.joinlapd.com/salary.html I don't really keep track of the NYPD or any other departments. So I can't really compare...but ya.
  - wavefunction 12y ago
    That's for a patrolman, as well. Senior Detectives down here in an urban area of Texas make $95,000 PA. And I learned that at least here, the pension is calculated as 75% of your last three years' salary averaged, cause a local cop just got brought up on manslaughter charges for shooting a black dude in the back of the head at point blank range.

Balgair 12y ago

Thank you! I have been lookign for these stats for a while, but didn't find them. To answer questions: No, LA is not NEARLY as bad as Baghdad after the fall. There are areas and situations where it MAY be comparable (Watts, '92, OJ, etc) but is 99% not even close to as bad. Interesting though, I wonder what the diff is between, say, NY or NOLA and LA in cops/mile and $/cop. Hell, Dallas-FW even, thats a comparable sprawl set of cities. 90k for a cop job in LA is not very good. But then again, I'm thinking my life is worth WAY more than 90k. Though it really depends on person and family history, I guess. Thank you most though for the 6 minutes stat. I had HEARD that LAPD was pretty isolated, but 6 minutes for average backup blows that out of the water for me. Still, I am not cop and I do not know if that is a long or acceptable time for backup (Obviously, compare to NYPD, London PD, Paris PD etc.). Still, you gotta check the data. It may be a gaussian distribution with a sigma of ~1 hour, we don't know, it may be ~30seconds for sigma. "the budget is not being properly handled" With LAPD, no! Surely you jest! Watts, Rampart, OJ, Rodney King, Dorner, the Sherrifs Dept THIS year? No, the LAPD just has a few bad apples. Thank you for the data, the time to source the data, and the sources themselves. This is why I come to HN, for the real story.

opendais 12y ago
Oh, no that wasn't salary, I was talking budget. Salary is 50-65k http://www.joinlapd.com/salary.html http://www.joinlapd.com/salary.html I don't really keep track of the NYPD or any other departments. So I can't really compare...but ya.
- wavefunction 12y ago
  That's for a patrolman, as well. Senior Detectives down here in an urban area of Texas make $95,000 PA. And I learned that at least here, the pension is calculated as 75% of your last three years' salary averaged, cause a local cop just got brought up on manslaughter charges for shooting a black dude in the back of the head at point blank range.