The Basin does an excellent breakdown–and a breakdown it is–of fiscal management at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Miles Morton reports, “Across the active sworn employees in LA’s payroll file, 302 people were paid more than $300,000. New York’s payroll records cover more than four times as many officers, and just 15 of them crossed that line. Nearly half of LA’s 302 held police officer or detective titles”.
The Basin does a deep dive in how much Police officers at every level are paid, and the overtime dollars that are paid out.
The differences are significant and LA has a fraction of the number of Cops per square mile and per resident when compared to New York City, even given the difference in population (NYC: 8.3M, LA, 3.8 M) and area to be covered (NYC: 300 sq. miles, LA: 470 sq, miles). We have a lot fewer cops covering a lot more ground.
Source: New York City Department of City Planning (Spatial Data); City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering; Active Departmental Personnel Rosters (2026).
Read the story on The Basin. The large amount of money dispersed to small number of people is distressing as is the need for overtime as described: “Across the five titles in the officer and detective group, overtime made up between 42 and 48 percent of the average paycheck.” It is fair to ask if the OT would be diminished if we had more Cops. Seems like the numbers don’t lie.
