Crime is trending down in Los Angeles, with homicides alone on track to fall 15% compared to last year, but newly sworn-in LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell is concerned that statistics aren’t telling the full story.
Speaking ahead of the ceremony Thursday to mark his arrival as the city’s 59th chief of police, McDonnell voiced concern about the perception of disorder — and the reality that crimes are going unreported because some believe nothing will be done to investigate.
McDonnell said he would rather see the city’s crime numbers rise because it would give him a real picture of the problem and a better idea of what he must do to handle it.
“Our officers and professional staff are working very hard to continue to drive those numbers down,” he said. “But the perception of the public is based on a number of different things, and one of those things, I think, is that they would say reported crime is down because people don’t have confidence that anything is going to be done.”
That frankness is one factor that led Mayor Karen Bass to turn to McDonnell, 65, as the new chief.
The son of Irish immigrants who still sounds like he never left Boston despite spending more than 40 years in Southern California, McDonnell previously served as L.A. County sheriff and chief of police in Long Beach. He began his career as an LAPD beat cop, climbing the ranks during the 1980s and ’90s — an era when crime was off the charts compared to today.
McDonnell said some citizens have begun hesitating to call the police in recent years because they haven’t felt that anything “meaningful would be done.”
He placed partial blame on prosecutors for not pressing charges in many low-level crimes — a policy that is expected to change next month when Nathan Hochman takes over as L.A. County district attorney, replacing the progressive incumbent George Gascón. State voters also passed Proposition 36, which will enact harsher penalties for certain types of thefts and drug crimes.
McDonnell said “encouraging people who are victims of crime to come forward and report that crime gives us a better ability to deploy resources and form strategies to deal with those issues.”
He added: “It may drive up our crime numbers, but it gives us a more realistic picture of what we’re dealing with.”
At Thursday’s ceremony, Bass said the new chief has “already hit the ground running” with community meetings and efforts to evaluate the Los Angeles Police Department’s needs.
“I am 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 change,” Bass said, adding that McDonnell is focused on “ensuring that our city is prepared for what is to come.”
In his public remarks Thursday, McDonnell said his first 90 days on the job will be spent listening, evaluating and planning how to move forward.
“Priority One is addressing crime, particularly violent and property crimes,” he said.
McDonnell listed his other priorities as transparency and accountability, addressing homelessness, improved emergency readiness, and “responsible adoption and use of technology with a steadfast commitment to privacy.”
The chief also seemingly sought to quell concerns that the LAPD under his watch would be overly aggressive.
“Let me be absolutely clear: Reducing crime and building trust are not separate goals,” he said. “They are deeply intertwined. We must be true partners in the pursuit of justice, united by a shared commitment to safety and mutual respect.”
In comments prior to the speech, McDonnell expressed dismay at retailers closing stores in low-income areas, exacerbating food deserts. Underlying the issue, he said, is a “fear that crime is more prevalent,” a perception fueled by viral videos of stores being robbed by large groups of teens.
“If you walk into retail establishments, everything you want is behind locked plastic cases, “ McDonnell said. “Those are signs of dysfunction.”
The first test of McDonnell’s approach as chief is likely to be MacArthur Park, where crime, gang activity, homelessness and drug use have festered.
In 2003, during his previous stint with the LAPD, McDonnell helped clean up the park, but he concedes it’s in “pretty desperate straits” today, calling it “a magnet for activity that has been detrimental to the neighborhood.”
“All of the players who have a stake in that area need to weigh in and be able to provide something on the way toward a solution,” the chief said. “If everybody jumps in, I think it could look markedly different in three to six months.“
McDonnell said he is considering expanding programs where officers work with clinicians in mental health teams. He also supports efforts to have someone other than officers respond to incidents in which people are in crisis, although he noted funding for such initiatives remains limited.
Another challenge McDonnell faces is having enough officers to carry out his vision. In the 15 years he has been away from the LAPD, the department’s ranks have dropped from nearly 10,000 to 8,800.
A recent class at the academy numbered just 23 — less than half the number during the years when McDonnell was last at the LAPD.
“We have the ability to put 60 through each class, and we’re not seeing close to that,” he said, adding he hoped the department would soon streamline the hiring process.
McDonnell has years of organizational charts in his office, and the number of people on the commanders’ chart has grown with more specialized responsibilities. He said he believed some restructuring is needed and there are too many “silos” operating separately. He floated the possibility of reassigning those in administrative roles to patrol, given the department’s slimmed-down size.
“We also can’t get away from the fact that we need more good people to be interested in this job and to come on the job,” McDonnell said.
The chief said he views policing as “helping somebody on the worst day of their life manage what they’re dealing with or to be able to bring justice to a family.”
He echoed that sentiment in his speech at Thursday’s ceremony, during which he spoke about the importance of remembering the human being behind crime data.
“These numbers aren’t abstract markers,” he said. “They’re real people with real stories, survivors who bear the weight of crime long after the headlines disappeared. … For every statistic, there are lived experiences, people whose lives have been upended, whose sense of safety has been shattered.”
