Investigations

Plan to Fold General Services in to LAPD OK'd

May 16, 2012

The Los Angeles Police Department will begin patrolling libraries, City Hall and other city facilities after absorbing the General Services police and security officers under a newly approved plan.

May 16--The Los Angeles Police Department will absorb the General Services police and security officers under a plan approved Tuesday.

The City Council voted unanimously to consolidate the two agencies, transferring the 220 officers and security guards from General Services to the LAPD.

With the move, the LAPD will take on the work of General Services police: patrolling libraries, City Hall offices and other city facilities.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed the merger, including the plan in his 2012-2013 budget.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Councilman Mitch Englander urged his colleagues to support the consolidation plan.

"This isn't a divorce, this is a marriage," Englander said. "And I say, Mazel Tov."

Currently, General Services' sworn officers carry guns and patrol the city's parks, libraries, and City Hall offices and grounds. The security guards protect the Los Angeles Zoo, Convention Center and other facilities.

Following the consolidation -- expected to take place July 1 -- both groups would fall within a new department called LAPD's Security Services Division.

In the short term, the merger will cause a reduction in the number of officers patrolling libraries and parks.

According to Sandy Jo MacArthur, assistant chief in the Office of Administrative Services, 37 General Services officers will become sworn LAPD officers.

The remaining officers will be invited to apply to become

LAPD officers, she said.

Overall, there'll be a "small bump" in the number of LAPD officers, who currently number 9,963, she said.

But unions -- who said Mayor Villaraigosa's office failed to consult with them on the consolidation -- remain wary about the plan, and the tight timeline for consolidation.

City Councilman Paul Koretz cast an aye vote, despite his lingering concerns. Koretz is worried that once the merger is complete, the former General Services police officers won't be as highly regarded as their LAPD peers.

"I'm a little nervous," Koretz said. "But the plan is moving forward."

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