Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 404 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: FEBRUARY 2017 by Ron Hernandez T he combination of rising crime and a short- staffedLosAnge- les County Sher- iff’s Department (LASD) is extremely troubling. A recent Los Angeles Times story revealed that in areas served by the Sheriff’s De- partment, violent crime was up 9 percent and property crime up 6 percent through November 30, 2016. This is the second year in a row we have had an increase in violent and prop- erty crime. Currently there are over 1,100 vacant deputy posi- tions at our agency with some people saying those numbers are possibly much higher. The LA County Sheriff’s Dept. is not the only agency struggling with hiring short- ages. According to a recent USA Today story, in the past five years law enforcement openings in California have increased more than 600 percent. The hiring crunch and massive shortages plaguing law enforcement agencies have heightened the need for the LA Sheriff’s Dept. to maintain its ranks as we are the primary agency do- ing countywide backup for departments throughout Southern California. We provide mutual aid to all 88 cities in the county to make sure there is an effec- tive response to a wide range of emergencies. There is a misconception among some that mutual aid is used only during civil unrest and natural disaster. However, our deputies routinely respond to many incidents outside our jurisdiction, frequently lending valuable support for large criminal and terrorist investiga- tions and deploying our special units such as SWAT, the bomb squad, the hostage negotiation team and others. There is more than one reason our neighborhoods are experiencing an increase in crime. In California, the passage of Proposition 47 has made many crimes of theft incon- sequential misdemeanors. Accused criminals have failed to appear in court in increasing numbers and the pending early release of thousands of inmates from prison is exacerbating these problems. The most effective way to combat crime is to have a well-staffed law enforcement agency serving and protect- ing the community. The highly-respected Rand Corporation, in an exhaustive study on the cost of crime and the effective- ness of police in preventing crime, concluded the return on investment for hiring additional law enforcement was likely to be appreciably above the cost of hiring. The study noted the ben- efits of additional hiring was obvious but these reports were mostly buried in aca- demic journals that policy- makers underutilized. The Public Policy Insti- tute of California (PPPIC) echoed the findings of the Rand Corporation in August 2016 and confirmed what we already know. In the PPPIC’s “Just the Facts” re- lease, they wrote: “The most recent credible research finds that an additional po- lice officer reduces crime by 1.3 violent crimes and 4.2 property crimes per year.” Other recent evidence estimates that the crime- reducing benefits of hiring an additional police officer exceed $300,000 per year, much more than the annual cost of an additional offi- cer. The Rand Corporation has also documented multi- ple ways to solve the issue of law enforcement retention and recruitment in another 2010 study. The study noted that retention and not just recruiting should be a key focus of departments, as turnover was costly in terms of training, loss of valuable of- ficer experience and competent decision making. The findings concluded that the best way to retain deputies and officers was to improve compensation and benefits. Ron Hernandez is the presi- dent of the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (AL- ADS), the collective bargain- ing agent representing more than 7,900 deputy sheriffs and district attorney investiga- tors working in Los Angeles County. You want less You want less crime? Then crime? Then hire more cops hire more cops The most effective way to combat crime is to have a well-staffed law enforcement agency serving and protecting the community. The FBI Is Apparently Paying Geek Squad Members To Dig Around In Computers For Evidence Of Criminal Activity – Headline from Techdirt Even though it’s a little late in the game, the FBI might want to hire some computer people