For over two decades now, the city of Los Angeles has made a concerted effort to raise it's active police force to over 10,000 officers. Now that the landmark has finally been met, many are criticizing the need for such a large number.

The idea was first proposed in 1989 by Los Angeles Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, and proposed to raise the nearly-8000 member strong police force by 25%. He claimed that the increase in officers was to combat the drug and gang violence that was pervasive in L.A. at that time, but has since admitted that the 10,000 number was not the result of calculated analysis.

"[It's] a nice round number," Yaroslavsky stated in an interview, saying it "takes the force from four digits to five digits."Since he first unveiled the 10,000 officer plan 24 years ago, Yaroslavsky has gone from an active proponent of the plan to one of its detractors. He now believes that the city's priorities should lie elsewhere.

"If the Police Department does not lose any officers over the next few years, during this time of economic hardship, it's because the rest of city services have been eviscerated," said Yaroslavsky, now a Westside and San Fernando Valley representative on the county Board of Supervisors. "I don't think it's sensible to say that we cannot cut the Police Department by even one position."

Current L.A. Mayor Antonion Villaraigosa disagrees with this assessment. He has made reaching the goal of 10,000 officers one of his biggest priorities since taking office in 2005, raising the total by roughly 1000 police officers during that time.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Villaraigosa said. "A 49% drop in violent crime and homicides, a 66% drop in gang homicides. Growing our Police Department and ... community policing is a big reason why we are safer today."

Though the decrease in violence across Los Angeles is undeniable, the 10,000 number appears to be largely cosmetic. Los Angeles reached the milestone at the beginning of this year, but did so not through hiring more officers, but rather by simply moving officers from the General Services Department (parks, libraries, municipal buildings, etc.) to the LAPD.

"It's an increase for show," said Kevin James, who was a candidate for mayor before the runoff between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. "The mayor really wanted to get to 10,000 one way or the other before he left office, and this was the way he could do it under the current budget constraints."