Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Samuel Jimenez
University of San Diego
LEPS 590 Budget and Finance for Law Enforcement
Leaders
Professor O’ Deane
May 1, 2017
Budgetary Contact
On March 15, 2017, I met in person with Chustz, Keith. Mr. Chustz works for the Los
Angeles School Police Department. He has been working with the Los Angeles School Police
Department for the past twenty years. Mr. Chustz oversees the department’s payroll unit and
budget. He has been in that supervisory position since 2003. The Los Angeles School Police
Department (LASPD) is the largest independent school police department in the United States,
with over 410 sworn police officers, 101 non-sworn school safety officers (SSO), and 34 civilian
support staff dedicated to serving the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). It is the
fifth largest police department in Los Angeles County, and the 14th largest in California.
In our second meeting, I asked Mr. Chustz some questions I had in reference to LASPD’s
- What type of grants or special funds is LASPD given? What are the requirements that must be
met?
- What do you like/ dislike about LASPD’s current budget model? Do you think LASPD would
Angeles School Police Department provides safety and security for schools and property
belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District. The fiscal year for the Los Angeles School
Police Department begins every 1st of July and ends the 30th of June. Each fiscal year, the Los
Angeles Unified School District provides a budget of about $67- 68 million to the Los Angeles
School Police Department. The district does not dictate how the money should be spent by the
Los Angeles School Police Department. The responsibility of managing LASPD’s budget falls
under the budget supervisor (Mr. Chustz). Mr. Chustz manages LASPD’s budget. However, the
ultimate decision of approving and disapproving major spending amounts falls under the Chief
of Police.
About 95 % of the budget goes towards the salary of sworn and non-sworn personnel
working for the department. The remaining 5% is used as an operating budget. The operating
budget consists of the following items: Uniforms, Equipment, Vehicles, Citation Revenue,
Training, Co- Locations Charter School, and Custodial Supplies. Mr. Chustz provides quarterly
spending/ line item budget reports to the Chief of Police. Based on those reports, the Chief of
Currently, the Los Angeles School Police Department does not receive any other funds or
grants from any other organization other than the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Los
Angeles Unified School District gives the department a lump sum (as described by Mr. Chustz)
to operate. Thus, the Los Angeles School Police Department’s budget is unrestricted. The Los
Angeles School Police Department accounts for about less than one percent of the Los Angeles
Mr. Chustz uses a line item budgeting style to manage LASPD’s budget. He likes
“everything” about the line item budgeting style. The main thing Mr. Chustz enjoys about using
a line item budgeting style is its very easy to use/ update. Mr. Chustz uses an Excel spreadsheet
to list LASPD’s expenditures and creates quarterly reports to track spending and balances.
Although there are alternate budgeting style methods that can be used by LASPD, Mr. Chustz
prefers not to do so because he is accustomed to a line item budget system. Moreover, Mr.
Chustz believes using a line item budget system has kept LASPD running smoothly and
Mr. Chustz uses a line item budgeting style to manage LASPD’s budget. A line item budget
model allocates funds to specific commodities or objects of cost. In a line item budget model,
importance is placed on personnel, supplies, equipment, utilities, contractual services, and capital
expenditures. Line item budget models also show the comparison between the financial data for
the past accounting or budgeting periods and estimated figures for the current or a future period.
This particular style of budgeting meets LASPD’s budgetary needs as it helps the department
manage its budget effectively and efficiently. Line item budgets are easy to prepare; they are
quick and simple. However, its major shortcoming is its inability to describe the activities that
community they serve. LASPD’s jurisdiction covers about 710 square miles. LASPD prioritizes
expenditures in the Campus Services Division including but not limited to overtime staffing. The
main goal of CSD units is to provide safe school passages as students are going to and from
school. CSD units also provide directed patrols and foot beats.
LASPD does not have to fight or justify their budget. They do not have to fight or justify their
budget because the Los Angeles Unified School District Board members decide on the budget
LASPD will work with. They provide LASPD with a lump-sum at the beginning of the fiscal
year. It is up to the budget supervisor (Mr. Chustz) and the LASPD Chief of Police to manage
the budget. The budget is monitored and adjusted quarterly according to LASPD’s needs. Every
unit or division in LASPD is given a pre- determined budget to work with. LASPD’s Chief of
Police decides the pre- determined budget for each respective unit or division. Thus, each unit or
Not having to fight or justify a budget can have its advantages and disadvantages. An
advantage of not having to fight or justify a budget is the budget one is given to work with will
always be there at the beginning of every fiscal year no matter what. In LASPD’s case, their
annual budget given to work with is about 65- 68 million dollars. The downside of not having to
fight or justify a budget is a department or organization will be expected to operate with the pre-
determined budget it is given and questions will probably arise if there is a request for an
increase in budget making it somewhat difficult to get a request for an increase in budget
fulfilled. In addition, a miscalculation or bad use of funds in one area can have serious
repercussions in the whole department or agency when working with a pre- determined budget.
Los Angeles Unified School District Budget Timeline
Date Event
September, 2016 Closing of the 2015-16 budget
October, 2016 Community Feedback & Superintendent Update
November, 2016 Community Feedback & Superintendent Update
December, 2016 First Interim/ Proposed LAUSD 2017-18 Budget
January, 2017 Governor’s Budget 2017-18/ Revision to 2017-18 LAUSD budget
January, 2017 State Board of Education Releases Regulations for use of Supplemental
and Concentration Funding
February, 2017 Board Community Input for LCFF Spending
February 28, 2017 Estimated Rate Sheets (Shopping Lists) released
March 3, 2017 Program and Budget Handbook Released to Schools
March 15, 2017 Budget Allocation Letters Released to Schools
March 17, 2017 School Budget Development – School Front End Opens
March, 2017 State Board of Education Releases Local Control Accountability Plan
(LCAP) Guidelines and Template
April 11, 2017 School Budget Development – School Front End Closes at 5:00 pm
May, 2017 Governor’s Budget Revision
June, 2017 Board’s Adoption of 2017-18 Budget
June, 2017 Concurrent Adoption of Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
October, 2017 Los Angeles County Office of Education Approves or Rejects LAUSD
LCAP
*The Los Angeles School Police Department provides services to the Los Angeles Unified
School District. The Los Angeles School Police Department does not participate in any of the
district’s budget process. The budget set for the Los Angeles School Police Department is about
less than one percent of the district’s total budget for every fiscal year. According to Mr. Chustz
(Budget Supervisor), the Los Angeles School Police Department does not have to fight or
compete for resources because regardless if they do or don’t the department will get the same
percentage every fiscal year. Attached is a budget time line for the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
L.A.S.P.D. Budget Flowchart
Recommendations for Improvements to the Budgetary Process
Every budget manager is different. That is, he or she may have his or her own way of
managing a budget. In this case, Mr. Chustz prefers to manage LASPD’s budget using a line
item budget style. I would recommend using a different style of budget. I would recommend
using a zero based budgeting style. Using a ZBB style has its advantages. One of the advantages
of ZBB is accuracy; ZBB makes every department revise every item in their budget along with
their operational costs. This allows for a clearer picture of costs against the desired performance.
(department-wise) as it does not look at the historical numbers but looks at the actual numbers.
Lastly, another advantage of ZBB is it helps reduce unnecessary activities; leads to the discovery
of opportunities and more cost- effective ways of doing things by eliminating unnecessary
activities. Moreover, I believe ZBB can help prepare LASPD to fight for or justify their budget
Another recommendation I would make would be to use some of the budget to create a Grant
Writer position. While talking with Mr. Chustz he mentioned LASPD has not received any type
of grants in the past 7 years. LASPD has not received any type of grants because there is no one
qualified for grant writing in the department. Receiving grants from outside agencies other than
the Los Angeles Unified School District can benefit LASPD. It can benefit LASPD because they
would have additional sources of funding to use throughout the department according to the
May 1, 2017
I would like to start off by thanking you for your time and the opportunity to meet with you in
reference to the Master’s project for my current class. With that being said, I have completed a
report on the Los Angeles School Police Department’s budgetary process and recommendations
for improvement.
The Los Angeles School Police Department currently uses a line item budget model. The line
item budget works very well for the Los Angeles School Police Department. It works very well
for the Los Angeles School Police Department because importance is placed on personnel,
supplies, equipment, utilities, contractual services, and capital expenditures. Its major
shortcoming is its inability to describe the activities of that will be performed a particular agency.
However, this does not seem to affect the Los Angeles School Police Department. It does not
appear to affect the department because the department receives a pre- determined lump sum
every fiscal year regardless.
Sincerely,
Samuel Jimenez