8,888 -- That's the current number of sworn officers employed by the Los Angeles Police Department, far below the number Mayor Karen Bass said is needed to keep the city safe.
Last year, the city approved funding for pay raises and hiring bonuses in an effort to boost the police department's ranks to the 9,504 officers Bass believes to be necessary.
Council member Bob Blumenfield, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, told KNX News' Craig Fiegener more people are applying to join the LAPD but not as many as needed and not nearly as quickly as he'd like.
"Our overall number of police have gone down, which is why we voted on a very generous contract for the police to be able to start getting those numbers," said Blumenfield. "Those numbers are going up. At the same time, we have a lot of people who are aging out."
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As for the mayor's target, Blumenfield said there is no 'magic number,' but he would rather the city be closer to 10,000 officers.
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Still, the councilman believes the number of officers is not the only valuable metric in evaluating public safety regarding police.
"The number often gets compared to other big cities like Chicago, New York. If you compare us on a per capita basis, we are lower than those cities - but we're also different," Blumenfield said.
He said a condensed city like N.Y. would require more patrolling officers on foot, whereas Los Angeles is spread out, relying more on car patrols, helicopters, and other force multipliers.
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