Los Angeles Park Rangers
The Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association (LAAPOA) has resoundingly ratified a successor labor contract on behalf of its law enforcement members that will ultimately provide equitable salary and benefits to its public safety officers. This is a landmark contract for LAAPOA’s majority–minority police force membership, which has historically been underpaid and undervalued.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is a person of action, and she proved it today. The mayor’s office announced that it has struck a deal on a four-year contract with the LAPD officers of the L.A. Police Protective League (LAPPL) that will raise starting salaries and benefits and provide incentives to stem the mass exodus of officers that the city has experienced in recent years.
LAAPOA is pleased to announce that City Ordinance No. 187923 was unanimously adopted by the Los Angeles City Council on June 27 and concurred by Mayor Karen Bass on June 28. The ordinance, which goes into effect on July 9, amends Chapter 10 of Division 4 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code to enhance the disability retirement, death and survivorship benefits for sworn peace officers who are public safety officer members of the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) Tiers 1 and 3.
In response to the rising crime in our parks and the City of Los Angeles’ continued refusal to properly equip its park rangers to protect themselves and the public in increasingly dangerous conditions, LAAPOA is recommending that our park ranger members no longer perform law enforcement duties, instead routing all calls for law enforcement services in City parks to LAPD.
The LAPD announced during a special town hall meeting on July 26 that it will be increasing police officer presence at San Pedro’s Peck Park. The department delivered the news just two days after a deadly mass shooting at the park claimed the lives of two people and injured at least five others. “You’re going to see cops in their cars. You’re going to see cops on bicycles. You’re going to see cops on ATVs. You’re going to see cops on horses,” LAPD Captain Brent McGuyre told the community.
LAAPOA reiterates our ongoing call to arm Los Angeles park rangers as news surfaces that City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who voted against a measure that would do just that, has instead hired armed private security guards to protect his own Council District 11 office from unsafe conditions in adjacent Westchester Park.
