Crime is on the decline in Los Angeles, with homicide rates down 15% compared to last year, but newly sworn-in Chief Jim McDonnell worries the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Speaking before a ceremony Thursday to celebrate his arrival as the city’s 59th police chief, McDonnell expressed concern about the perception of disruption — and the fact that crimes go unreported because some believe nothing will be done to investigate them.
McDonnell said he prefers to see crime statistics increase in the city because it will give him a true picture of the problem and a better idea of ​​what he needs to do to deal with it.
“Our staff and dedicated staff are working hard to continue to bring those numbers down,” she said. “But public opinion depends on a lot of different things, and one of those things I think is that you can say that reported crime has gone down because people don’t have hope that something will be done.”
That outspokenness is one of the factors that led Mayor Karen Bass to turn to McDonnell, 65, as the new chief.
The son of Irish immigrants who still sounds like he’s never left Boston despite spending more than 40 years in Southern California, McDonnell previously served as LA County sheriff and Long Beach police chief. He began his career as an LAPD beat cop, rising through the ranks in the 1980s and 1990s – a time when crime was off the charts compared to today.
McDonnell said some residents have become reluctant to call the police in recent years because they didn’t feel there was anything “meaningful to do.”
He partly blamed prosecutors for not pressing charges in many low-level cases — a policy expected to change next month when Nathan Hochman takes over as LA County’s district attorney, replacing incumbent George GascĂłn. State voters also passed Proposition 36, which would impose stiffer penalties for certain types of theft and drug crimes.
McDonnell said “encouraging people who are victims of crime to come forward and report crime gives us a better ability to invest resources and develop strategies to deal with those problems.”
He added: “It may increase our crime rates, but it gives us a realistic picture of what we are dealing with.”
At Thursday’s event, Bass said the new chief is “already hitting the ground running” with public meetings and efforts to assess the needs of the Los Angeles Police Department.
“I’m very clear that my No. 1 job as mayor is to keep people safe, and that the only way to improve safety in Los Angeles is to make a change,” Bass said, adding that McDonnell is focused on “making sure our city is prepared for what’s to come.”
In his public address Thursday, McDonnell said his first 90 days on the job will be spent listening, evaluating and planning a way forward.
“Priority One is dealing with crime, especially violent and property crime,” he said.
McDonnell listed other priorities for her as transparency and accountability, addressing homelessness, improved emergency preparedness, and “responsible adoption and use of technology with a strong commitment to privacy.”
King also appeared to want to allay concerns that the LAPD under his watch would become overly aggressive.
“I did not make it clear: Reducing crime and building trust are not different goals,” he said. “They are deeply connected. We must be true partners in the pursuit of justice, united by a shared commitment to security and mutual respect.”
Commenting before the speech, McDonnell expressed dismay that retailers are closing stores in low-income neighborhoods, exacerbating food deserts. At the root of the issue, he said, is “the fear that crime is rampant,” a perception fueled by videos circulating of stores being robbed by large groups of youth.
“When you go into stores, everything you want is behind locked plastic cases,” McDonnell said. “Those are signs of dysfunction.”
McDonnell’s first test as chief may be MacArthur Park, where crime, gangs, homelessness and drug use are rampant.
In 2003, while working with the LAPD, McDonnell helped clean up the park, but he admits it’s in “very bad shape” today, calling it “a magnet for work that hurts the neighborhood.”
“All players involved in that area must balance and be able to provide something on the way to a solution,” said the chief. “If everyone jumps in, I think it could look very different in three to six months.”
McDonnell said he is considering expanding programs where officers work with doctors on mental health teams. He also supports efforts to have a non-official person to respond to incidents when people are in trouble, although he noted that funding for such programs is always low.
Another challenge McDonnell faces is having enough officials to carry out his vision. In the 15 years he has been away from the LAPD, the department’s ranks have dropped from about 10,000 to 8,800.
The school’s most recent class numbered just 23 — less than half the enrollment during McDonnell’s years at the LAPD.
“We have the capacity to put 60 students in each class, and we don’t see it close to that,” he said, adding that he hopes that the Ministry will quickly adjust the recruitment process.
McDonnell has many years of organizational charts in his office, and the number of people on the commander’s chart has grown with special responsibilities. He said he believes that reform is needed and that there are too many “silos” that work separately. He indicated that he may reassign those in administrative positions to supervise, as the department seems to have shrunk.
“We also can’t get away from the fact that we need a lot of good people to get interested in this job and get into the job,” said McDonnell.
The king said that he views the work of the police as “helping a person on the worst day of his life to control what he is facing or to be able to bring justice to the family.”
He reiterated that in his speech at Thursday’s event, where he spoke about the importance of remembering the person behind the crime report.
“These numbers are not invisible signs,” he said. “They are real people with real stories, survivors bearing the brunt of crime long after the headlines have disappeared. … In every statistic, there are people who have lived, people whose lives have been increased, their sense of security has been disturbed.”
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