City Controller Posts Alarm Over L.A. Finances

Kenneth Mejia responded to Bernie Sander's plea for a younger generation to become involved in political decisions.   After two attempts at a Congressional seat, he was elected in November 2022 and was sworn into office December 2022 as the Los Angeles Controller (comptroller0.  While his "firsts" do not make are unrelated to qualifications for a better Controller (other than being a CPA) they may explain his 63% victory over the incumbent in 2022. 

• Filipino American elected official in the city of Los Angeles,
• Asian American elected to a citywide office
• Youngest (born November 7th,1990 he was 31 when elected on November 8, 2022)
• Person of color to hold the position of City Controller in over a century.
• CPA to hold the position as Controller (Some sites contend his CPA license was "expired" or "inactive" from November 2018 until January 2022)

However, when you look at the charts accompanying his 90-minute video, the top over-budget department is the LAPD. Yet, the LAPD force remains less than 10,000, disproportionately smaller than most cities of similar population. 

According to Bureau of Justice Statistics: Local police departments in the United States employed about 473,000 full-time sworn officers and 126,000 full-time civilian personnel in 2020. Almost half (46%) of all local police departments employed fewer than 10 full-time-equivalent sworn officers.

According to the DefundPolice.org Police Department Size Calculator the LAPD has 23% of the total Los Angeles Budget.  Similarly, DefundPolice.org suggests

“The Ventura County Sheriff's Office has 373% the officers per capita as the state average, 373% the officers per capita as the national average, and 463% the officers per capita as similarly sized cities across the country. To match state, national, and peer department sizes Ventura County Sheriff's Office should have between 164 and 204 total officers.”

The Simi Valley Police Department has 41% the officers per capita as the state average, 41% the officers per capita as the national average, and 56% the officers per capita as similarly sized cities across the country. To match state, national, and peer department sizes Simi Valley Police Department should have between 211 and 292 total officers.

The Burbank Police Department has 58% the officers per capita as the state average, 58% the officers per capita as the national average, and 79% the officers per capita as similarly sized cities across the country. To match state, national, and peer department sizes Burbank Police Department should have between 176 and 240 total officers."

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