$18.3 Million in U.S. Funds OKd to Aid LAPD : Police: The federal crime bill allocation will pay for computers, civilian workers and help free officers for street duty.

In a move designed to free up hundreds of police officers to fight crime on the streets of Los Angeles, the Clinton Administration announced Friday an $18.3-million allocation for computers and civilian staff for the city’s police force.

The money, provided under last year’s federal crime bill, will pay for more than 800 laptop computers, 180 civilian workers and a program to reduce the paperwork required of officers, freeing up the equivalent of 860 officers daily from desk duty, according to city officials.

“To me this is very important,” said Rep. Howard Berman, the San Fernando Valley Democrat who helped shepherd the application in Washington. “Erasing the image of L. A. as drive-by shootings, gangs, riots and carjackings is critical for getting business to stay here.”

The allocation is only a portion of a larger amount that city officials are seeking. Los Angeles officials are planning to file an application next month for another $45 million to hire 600 additional officers over the next three years.

Nonetheless, the announcement came as a relief to Mayor Richard Riordan and top police officials who worried that a congressional rewrite of the crime bill would cut the city’s proposed allocation.

The money, which comes under a so-called “Cops More” section of the bill, is key to meeting Riordan’s promise to put the equivalent of 3,000 new officers on the streets.

“Since filing our application, I have taken every opportunity to remind the White House that public safety is our city’s No. 1 goal, and that the ‘Cops More’ program is very important to Los Angeles,” Riordan said in a prepared statement.

LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride said he is not certain when the federal money can be spent but he added that he expects the grant to provide “some much-needed relief and support.”

“The end result will be more effective communication and free up some time which will ultimately provide more officers on the street,” he said.

“I think this is a giant stride in the right direction,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, who has worked for nearly two years to get businesses and individuals to donate computers, copiers and other equipment to modernize the police force.

Bringing the Police Department into the computer age has been a high priority for police and city officials, who estimate that officers spend as much as 40% of their day completing paperwork by hand.

The 824 laptop computers purchased with the funds would allow police to fill out crime reports in the field so they could stay on the streets longer, providing a visual deterrent, according to the city’s grant application.

Two-way video and audio equipment will also be bought with the money, allowing investigators and prosecutors to exchange information when preparing for a criminal trial, the application states.

The 180 civilian workers are expected to take over the desk duties of sworn officers, freeing them up for patrol or investigation work, according to the application.

The program to reduce paperwork addresses a longtime problem in the department: antiquated and duplicative crime forms that keep officers working behind a desk instead of on the streets.

“If we are going to control crime, the police can’t be sitting behind desks in station houses, they need to be out on the streets where the crime is being committed,” said U. S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who learned of the grant in a phone call by U. S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.

According to the application, the use of computers and other modernization efforts reportedly improved productivity by 15% to 30% in the city of Escondido.

Sources said the Los Angeles application was benefited by $13.4 million in matching funds raised by the Mayor’s Alliance for a Safer L. A., a coalition of business and community leaders.