For the Los Angeles Police Department, it’s the endless cycle of homelessness and amental health crisisthat has plagued the city.
Roughly “one-third” of calls to the LAPD — or 40 calls an hour — are now for people suffering from a mental health crisis, Chief Jim McDonnell told The California Post.
“We spend an awful lot of our patrol time dealing with people with mental health issues,” he said, adding that at the end of the day, the police are the ones called when somebody is threatening someone.
That means other issues could fall on the back burner.
“Things will get pushed aside,” an LAPD source told The Post. “We listen to the community and many are sharing with us that they are concerned with these [homeless] encampments, so we have to be responsive to the community’s needs.”
There are roughly 72,000 homeless peoplein LA County, according to 2025 data from the LA Homeless Services Authority — and about 3,400 are on Skid Row.
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The chief, who was appointed in 2024, told The Post his department of 8,700 is increasingly stretched thin and operates with about half the officers per capita compared to the smaller city of Chicago.
He said the magic number of officers to adequately police the city is 12,000.
“I think we can police this city on a smaller per capita basis than Chicago or New York does, but I still think we need substantially more than 10,000 to do it the right way,” McDonnell said.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
