LA Councilman Paul Koretz Transfers $250,000 to LAPD for Overtime Funding

Police recruits attend their graduation ceremony at Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters in Los Angeles on July 8, 2016. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

LOS ANGELES—City Councilman Paul Koretz announced Oct. 27 that he was providing $250,000 in overtime funding for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The funds will come from Koretz’s office, which said the councilman has provided $750,000 in the police department’s overtime funding to date.

Koretz said the funds will help lower crime rates.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz attends a ceremony Proclaiming September 7, 2018 as the official "Step Up To Cancer" Day in City Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 29, 2018. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

“We did something similar, particularly on Melrose [Avenue] when we had a spike in crime and we were able to make that area much safer and reduce those [crime] numbers dramatically,” Koretz said to KNX.

Koretz announced the funding at a news briefing Thursday at the Los Angeles Police Department Operations West Bureau with Police Chief Michel Moore.

Moore cited a recent survey done by Loyola Marymount University that found three-quarters of Angelenos wanted to see more police patrolling their neighborhoods, but the survey also highlighted mixed reviews on residents’ attitudes towards the police department.

Currently, the agency is facing a deficit of approximately 800 officers, according to Koretz’s office.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore speaks to the media about fallen LAPD officer Fernando Arroyos in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times