Snag for ‘3-12’ Police Plan

Confronted with the continuing attrition of Los Angeles police officers, Mayor James K. Hahn promised Wednesday to implement a compressed work schedule for police by October but said for the first time that the schedule may take some time to roll out throughout the entire LAPD.

Reservations about how quickly the schedule can be put into place are not deterring the mayor’s office from moving aggressively. On Wednesday, Hahn said he expects to begin offering the schedule to some officers even before a study of the proposal is completed.

“I think we’ve studied things enough,” he said.

Echoing his most controversial campaign pledge, Hahn reiterated his intent to pursue a three-day, 12-hour workweek for patrol officers, saying it is the key to improving officer morale, reducing overtime and beefing up the department’s dwindling ranks.

“I’m committed to seeing this done,” said Hahn during a news conference at the Santa Ana Police Department after meeting with local officials about that department’s flexible work schedule. “We may not be able to do everybody at once, but I don’t think we ever intended to do that. . . .

“We have to do everything we can to retain police officers and recruit more police officers,” he added, noting that the LAPD is losing officers twice as fast as it can hire new recruits.

The mayor said that in the next month he will submit his plan to the Police Commission to roll out a compressed work schedule in more than one of the LAPD’s 18 divisions.

During the campaign, Hahn promised to implement a compressed work schedule--including the so-called 3-12 shift--within 90 days of taking office, a pledge that helped him secure the endorsement of the police union, which has fiercely lobbied for the schedule. Those 90 days are up on Sept. 29.

Although Hahn’s remarks make it clear that delivering officers a shorter workweek may come over time--not right away--union officials said they were not disappointed by his comments.

“He’s going to get it out,” said Peter Repovich of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “We didn’t expect him to have it department-wide in 90 days.”

One obstacle will be assuaging the doubts of Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who has historically opposed 3-12, saying that the schedule could take officers off the streets. In June, Parks said he would follow the public policy set by the city and the mayor.

But Hahn acknowledged Wednesday that the chief still has “a lot of reservations” about the program that need to be addressed.

Other critics have said the longer shifts could lead to fatigue that could hurt the decision-making abilities of officers, and that the shorter workweeks would extend the time officers who live outside of Los Angeles spend away from the communities they serve.

Those critics include some members of the City Council and at least one police commissioner, Bert Boeckmann. Their views are important because both groups will have to approve any large-scale adoption of the schedule.

Unlike Hahn, some council members would prefer not to act until they have the results of a $140,000 study on compressed work schedules.

The study by a Carlsbad-based consulting group will not be finished until mid-November.

Some council members said they would resist efforts to approve a new schedule without the study, and noted that several of the mayor’s Police Commission appointees, who were confirmed Wednesday, voiced interest in seeing the study before making a decision.

“My immediate response is, ‘Not so fast,’ ” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who pushed for the study last spring. “There is much at stake, and we can hardly afford to make a mistake in terms of deployment practices, particularly in terms of the uptick in crime in the city.”

Added Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, head of the Public Safety Committee: “It seems to me that taking that time [until the study is done] makes sense.”

The LAPD tried a compressed work schedule in several divisions during a 1995 pilot program, but findings were mixed.

But the mayor is convinced that the compressed work schedule is needed right away to hold onto officers who are leaving the department for other cities where they can have flexible hours.

“We’re in a crisis,” said Sarah Dusseault, the mayor’s policy director. “We’re over 1,000 officers down. Waiting is putting the public safety of Los Angeles in jeopardy.”

Hahn said his belief in the program was reaffirmed after spending Wednesday morning visiting with city officials, police officers and community members in Santa Ana. The 400-officer department--roughly the size of one LAPD division--has had a compressed work schedule since 1994.

“What they realized was that having five-day, eight-hour shifts was maybe convenient for the payroll clerks, but that was about it,” Hahn said.

“I believe in it, Santa Ana believes in it and numerous other departments throughout California believe in it,” he added. “It’s only Los Angeles who hasn’t seen the light.”

Under Santa Ana’s program, police officers, sergeants, watch commanders and other staff work seven 12-hour shifts during a two-week period.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said the schedule has reduced response time, boosted morale, assisted community policing and decreased complaints about officers. He said the flexible schedule has allowed the department to put more officers on duty during times when the department usually gets more calls.

About 40% of officers from other departments who apply to work in Santa Ana cite the department’s compressed work schedule, officials said.

“At this point,” said Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, “we have officers who want to come here from all over the country.”