Defunding Disaster: LAPD Costs are Soaring by Millions Amid Staffing Cuts

Beege Welborn

Her whole report is here and there's an eye-popping little section that I saw right off:

...Rand’s case isn’t unique. In 2024, the department spent an all-time high of $265.5 million on overtime alone, an increase of $100 million for that line item in the city’s budget since 2019.

Before last year, no LAPD officer had ever earned more than $235,000 in yearly overtime pay. In 2024, seven officers did, including Detective Nathan Kouri, whose combined compensation of $603,887 made him the highest-paid cop in the City of Angels, according to a report by OpentheBooks.com. All told, nearly three dozen LAPD officers made at least $400,000 in overall pay for the year. 

These whopping paychecks don’t appear to be a good deal for taxpayers or crime-fighting in the city. The spike in overtime stems from three main sources: a shortage of cops, the City Council’s continued embrace of the movement to defund the police, and general fiscal pressures. However, cutting the force is costing the city more, not less, while also hindering the LAPD’s ability to respond to calls for help.

I mean, hot DAWG, that's a buttload of money.

And they still couldn't pay me to do that job there.