Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton announced his 2006 goals for the LAPD today at a press conference with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa:

1. Reduce Part I Crime by 8%
2. Reduce traffic collisions by 5%
3. Continue toward full compliance with the Federal Consent Decree
4. Strengthen capabilities to respond to and prevent terrorism
5. Re-engineer systems and add technology to deliver police services more efficiently

   These goals followed a year of successful crime reduction in 2005. The LAPD exceeded its own 2005 goal in reducing Part I Crime by 14 percent, four points more than the stated goal. As of July 2005, Los Angeles became the second safest major city in America, between San Diego
   and New York City, according to the FBI’s Uniformed Crime Report.
   
   "I believe in setting goals --- making this Department stretch in order to reach what may initially seem impossible," said Chief Bratton. "But as they have proven over the past several years, the men and women of this department are capable of being the catalyst to make Los Angeles the safest large city in America."
   
   While academics have claimed that setting goals for police departments are not realistic, Chief Bratton countered, "The numbers and efforts [in 2005] speak for themselves. Police departments can and do have a huge influence on the crime rate. Cops count!"
   
   For more information on the 2005 year-end crime statistics, refer to news release LAPD Announces Crime Down Again in 2005, dated January 5, 2006.