Los Angeles is being policed with half a team — and the city’s top cop says the consequences will be brutal as the world descends on LA for the FIFA World Cup later this year and the2028 Summer Olympics.
Despite a population topping four million — with tens of thousands of active criminals — the city has just 8,700 police officers.
It’s a staffing level LAPD’s Chief Jim McDonnell compares to taking to the baseball field with four players instead of nine.
“If you have a baseball team with nine fielders on the field, we have four,” McDonnell told The California Post. “No matter how good the players are, they’re going to get fatigued.”
McDonnell saysLos Angeles needs 12,000 officers just to function safely— a staggering 38% increase, or roughly 3,300 more cops — as the city prepares to host two of the biggest global events on Earth.
“I would start with 12,000 [officers] and I think if we were able to get that we would be pretty healthy. We would be able to have the opportunity to reinvigorate some of the units that have been downsized,” he said.
Instead, theCity Council has approved funding to hire up to 410 officersthis fiscal year, a move one senior department source described as “a drop in the bucket.”
The staffing crisis has been years in the making. In 2019, LAPD had about 10,000 officers. Today, it’s down more than 1,300, even as crime,homelessness and public disorderstrain the city’s resources.
McDonnell, who took over as chief in 2024, warned that running so lean during the World Cup and Olympics will come at a steep human cost.
“I’m confident we’ll handle whatever comes our way,” he said. “But it’s going to come at a cost — exhaustion, forced overtime, officers not getting time with their families. That’s what hurts morale and readiness.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
