Chief Tags 622 LAPD Jobs for Civilians : Police: Williams says 8% of the department’s officers are in positions requiring no law enforcement expertise and could be reassigned.

In a long-awaited deployment study unrelated to current planning for civil unrest, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams has concluded that 622 of his 7,730 officers--or 8% of the force--have jobs that require neither police powers nor police expertise.

Williams has recommended that these officers be redeployed to the streets to bolster a field force that is flagging. He is urging that civilians be hired to replace them in desk jobs involving mainly routine administrative tasks.

The officers who would be reassigned include three captains, eight lieutenants, 39 detectives, 114 sergeants and 458 regular police officers.

The Police Department undertook the study a year ago following a Times analysis of police deployment suggesting that more than 400 officers were doing jobs that could be done by civilians while there were not enough officers in the field to adequately carry out basic police functions. The City Council asked the chief to develop a plan to hire civilians to free at least 400 able-bodied officers for field work.

Williams’ report, obtained Wednesday by The Times, suggests that the civilians be hired and the officers rerouted to the field over a period of eight years, rather than the 18 months suggested by the City Council.

The longer phase-in period represents Williams’ acknowledgment of the city’s economic hard times.

While civilians are much less expensive to employ than sworn officers, Williams’ plan would require the city to break a hiring freeze and hire 622 civilians without losing any officers. In a time of an intensifying city budget crisis, that could be a hard sell.

“I will resist any effort to replace sworn employees with civilians merely for the benefit of saving the difference in salaries,” the chief said in sending his plan to the Police Commission, which must approve it before it can be sent to the council. The Police Commission is expected to consider the plan next week.

Williams’ report said that the largest group of officers doing jobs that could be done by civilians were working in neighborhood police stations. He found that about 320 officers were assigned to sit at front desks and deal with the public, coordinate units in the field, perform administrative tasks such as handling bail money or keep track of which officers have been subpoenaed.

Among his recommendations were that civilians could replace:

* Thirteen officers performing administrative tasks for the Internal Affairs Division.

* Thirteen officers doing administrative assignments for intelligence-gathering units.

* Eight officers assigned to planning and research.

* Four detectives assigned to process complaints about false alarms.

* Fifteen officers handling requests from lawyers for LAPD files.

* Twenty-one officers helping civilians run the 911 emergency phone system.

* Four officers making training videotapes.

* Six officers teaching physical fitness.

* Five officers in the DARE drug-education program.

* One officer who supervises a PX for colleagues, including a gun store, a restaurant and a bar.

Williams developed his plan in two stages. Police managers were asked to identify officers they supervised who were doing jobs that could be performed by civilians. The managers identified 396 positions. After a request by the Police Commission to look for more such jobs, top management conducted its own survey and came up with 226 more.

Williams characterized his plan as preliminary, in part because it does not take into account what should become of about 300 officers who are restricted to temporary or long-term light duty. Without being specific, he said that many of these officers are assigned to the jobs he identified as those that could be done by civilians.

Either the department must continue to provide work for disabled officers or the city will be forced to pay for disability retirements, the report said, adding, “This issue will be addressed in the final plan.”