Although voters rejected a sales tax increase, top Los Angeles County law enforcement officials vow to find another way to put more police officers and sheriff’s deputies on the streets, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We’ll come back with another initiative, if that’s necessary, because we cannot ignore the needs of public safety,” Sheriff Lee Baca said after Measure A went down to defeat. Said Police Chief William Bratton: “We desperately need these resources, and we’ll keep at it until we finally succeed.”
Measure A won support from 59.6 percent of the voters, but it needed 66.7 percent to pass. Outside police headquarters, Baca and Bratton said options included putting a tax increase on the city ballot, perhaps as early as March. They said they need to figure out why enough voters did not agree that boosting the sales tax from 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent was the best way to pay for more police. “We know people want more police. We desperately want more police. We know what to do with those police,” Bratton said. “But we need to be able to address the concern: Is the money going to be used appropriately?”
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-me-coptax4nov04,1,6957316.story?coll=la-home-headlines