Plan Would Charge Park Rangers Who Quit

Echoing a similar program involving rookie police officers, Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer on Wednesday proposed forcing park rangers to reimburse the city for the cost of their training if they quit within five years of graduating from the academy.

Three of the last 14 rangers hired by the city left before serving a year as a park ranger to take jobs in other law enforcement agencies, according to city staff. Rangers spend six months in a $16,200 training program at Rio Hondo College; after graduating, they are qualified to serve as police officers in some local departments.

Feuer’s motion would have rangers who leave pay the city back on a prorated basis, depending on how long they stayed with the city.

“If you are funded by Los Angeles taxpayers to learn the skills necessary to be a park ranger, you should graduate and serve those same taxpayers as a park ranger,” Feuer said. “It’s a very simple principle. In this city, with its financial situation, it just makes sense.”

Since a similar ordinance for graduates of the police academy was enacted last year, no police officers with fewer than five years on the job have quit the Los Angeles Police Department, according to Sgt. Patrick Findley.