As the Los Angeles Police Department struggles to hire more people to address an officer shortage, Mayor Karen Bass announced Thursday that she’s issuing an executive directive to shorten the hiring process and time for new LAPD recruits.
The department has been pushing to increase the number of sworn officers to above 9,000 after losing retiring employees and those who left the LAPD for better-paying police departments in Southern California.
The executive order aims to remove “bureaucratic barriers” to shorten the time of hiring qualified candidates as the current process, which includes a written exam, extensive background check and polygraph test, could take several months.
“My number-one job as mayor is to keep Los Angeles safe,” Bass said in a statement. “I am issuing this executive directive to break through outdated bureaucratic barriers to hire more officers to serve the people of Los Angeles.”
Bass noted the city increased pay for officers since she took office, and the LAPD has seen a record-high of applications.
“Now, my direction to the department is clear: work together to speed up hiring and recruit full classes of candidates,” the mayor said.
Another push to hire more LAPD officers comes as the city prepares for large-scale international events, such as the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Bass also prioritized the hiring of LAPD officers even as the city is faced with a $1 billion budget deficit despite the city council’s suggestion to slow down police hiring to address financial concerns.
When the mayor signed a roughly $14 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, she made sure the city council identified funds for 240 new recruits while all sworn officers and firefighters are funded.
LAPD’s rank-and-file currently stands at roughly 8,700, the Mayor’s Office said.