LAPD estimates that police security for the 2028 Games could cost 1.15 billion dollars
The Los Angeles Police Department estimates that the costs of police deployment during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games could reach about 1.15 billion dollars, according to a budget memorandum submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee of the Los Angeles City Council. It is the most detailed publicly available estimate so far for the policing part of security operations connected with the Games, and the document clearly warns that the amount is not final and is based on plans that were in effect in April 2026. According to the memorandum by City Administrative Officer Matthew W. Szabo, the stated analysis has not been independently verified in his office, and it has not yet been clarified which part of the costs will be considered regular city services that are already included in the LAPD's annual budget anyway.
The estimate comes at a time when Los Angeles is coordinating preparations for one of the largest sporting and security events in its recent history. The Olympic Games in Los Angeles are scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, and the Paralympic Games from August 15 to August 27, 2028, the LA28 organizing committee announced. Because the Games include the period of preparations, venue checks, competitions, the transition between the Olympic and Paralympic programs and final operations, the LAPD does not calculate its cost model only for competition days, but for an operational period of 66 days.
According to the LAPD report attached to the city memorandum, the main reason for such a high amount is not only the number of sports venues and accompanying events, but the fact that the Los Angeles police alone can provide only about one third of the required personnel on the days of the greatest workload. The remaining two thirds would have to be filled with members of other police agencies, with additional costs for work, accommodation and per diems. The LAPD states that reliance on external police support is precisely the biggest driver of the total cost.
The cost is divided into three main operational areas
The document states that the total projection amounts to 1.1513 billion dollars, or approximately 1.15 billion dollars. Of that, 732.2 million dollars relates to direct operations connected with the Games, including the deployment of the LAPD and support from outside police forces. An additional 290.4 million dollars is planned for maintaining essential everyday police work throughout the city, including patrols and investigative functions by geographic areas. The remaining 128.7 million dollars relates to other critical LAPD support functions, such as detention services, the communications system and specialized units that cannot stop working while the Games are taking place.
In the report, the LAPD emphasizes that the second and third categories are not optional. According to the police explanation, calls from residents, emergency interventions, the detention system, communications, crisis response and regular presence on the streets cannot be stopped because of Olympic operations. Therefore, the cost relates not only to police officers deployed around venues, hotels, routes and security perimeters, but also to maintaining the usual level of public safety in the city throughout the entire period.
It is especially important that the 1.15 billion dollar estimate does not include all possible costs. The LAPD explicitly states that this is an estimate of personnel costs and the work of outside police forces. It does not include equipment, vehicles, technology, infrastructure, additional training and planning above the existing baseline. This means that the total public cost of security preparations could be higher if separate requests for vehicles, communications systems or other forms of technical support are taken into account.
The greatest pressure is created by overtime and outside police forces
According to the letter from LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell attached to the memorandum, overtime and the work of outside police officers calculated at an equivalent overtime rate account for about 457.5 million dollars, or approximately 40 percent of the total estimate. Of that, 156.2 million dollars relates to direct LAPD overtime, while 301.3 million dollars is planned for the work of outside police officers calculated at the same hourly rate for twelve-hour shifts. The LAPD states that outside agencies generally do not provide regular working time for an event of such scale, but that additional personnel come as reinforcement, most often under a more expensive work model.
The model anticipates that during the 66-day period, a total of about 338,468 person-days of police work will be needed. Of that, the LAPD would directly cover 148,170 person-days, while 190,298 person-days would have to be provided through outside police agencies. On the days of the greatest workload, according to the LAPD, 6,703 police officers are needed per day, while the department can sustainably deploy 2,245 officers. This means that during the peak period there is a shortfall of 4,458 people per day, which, according to the LAPD's current understanding, would have to be filled with external support.
The work plan is based on a rotation of four working days and two days off, with twelve-hour shifts. The LAPD explains that such a schedule is necessary in order to reduce fatigue, injuries, sick leave, mistakes caused by exhaustion and the risk that operations could collapse in the middle of a multi-day event. The document states that a continuous operational period without planned rest days would endanger the health of officers and the sustainability of the security system.
The operational period begins before the opening of the Games
Although the Olympic competitions take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, the LAPD begins its model before the official opening. According to the budget memorandum, the first phase covers 19 days of lower Olympic workload and security inspections of locations, with an estimated daily need of 5,366 people. This is followed by 17 days of the Olympic peak period, with 6,703 people per day. After that comes a 15-day transition period between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with 3,903 people per day.
For the Paralympic peak period, 13 days are planned with a daily need of 4,324 people, and the final closing phase lasts two days with 3,903 people per day. The LAPD states that these dates and phases are the current planning estimate and that they may change as LA28 finalizes the schedule of venues and operational requirements. In other words, the figures may be adjusted if the competition schedule, the number of events, security requirements or the division of responsibility among local, state and federal services changes.
A separate request for 407 vehicles is worth 42.4 million dollars
Along with the estimate of personnel costs, the City Council was also given a separate memorandum on vehicles needed for Olympic and Paralympic operations. According to the document by the City Administrative Officer, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026/2027 includes funding for 300 black-and-white police patrol vehicles and another 107 additional vehicles for investigations, special operations, logistics, event management and incident response. The total amount of the request is listed at 42.442 million dollars.
The city proposes that the purchase of these vehicles be financed through the MICLA mechanism, namely the Municipal Improvement Corporation of Los Angeles. However, the memorandum warns that such debt financing would add an estimated 13.9 million dollars in interest, which would raise the total estimated repayment to 56.3 million dollars. The same document states that part of the proposed procurement is not in line with the city's debt management policy, because MICLA guidelines provide that debt financing of black-and-white patrol vehicles should be avoided because of their high depreciation and damage rate.
In its explanation, the LAPD argues that vehicles are not only a means of transport, but operational tools necessary for security obligations during the Games. According to the memorandum, patrol vehicles are needed to secure locations, maintain emergency response and preserve readiness throughout the city, while specialized vehicles serve investigative functions, logistics, equipment transport and support for units such as HazMat, Bomb Squad and SWAT. The police also do not support relying on officers' personal vehicles with mileage reimbursement, because such an approach, according to the document, would raise questions of contractual obligations, insurance, liability and the organization of initial shift locations.
Time pressure further complicates the decision. The vehicle memorandum states that most vehicles require up to 18 months or more for delivery, so the LAPD argues that it cannot wait for a final decision on federal grants before placing orders if it wants to avoid a fleet shortage during the Games. After the Games end, according to the police plan, the vehicles would be included in the LAPD's regular fleet in fiscal year 2028/2029, which would partially reduce the need for a separate vehicle replacement budget that year.
It is not clear who will ultimately pay the full bill
The most sensitive issue remains the source of funding. The memorandum by the City Administrative Officer states that it is still not certain how much of the estimated costs will be eligible for coverage from the federal allocation of one billion dollars for Olympic security. According to the same document, cost eligibility should be defined in the federal funding call, which is expected in autumn 2026. This means that Los Angeles currently has estimates, but not full certainty about which costs will be reimbursed and to whom the money will be allocated.
Additional uncertainty is created by the possible role of the State of California. According to the memorandum, a legislative proposal, AB 2411, is in process in California and could allow the California Office of Emergency Services, known as CalOES, to directly manage agreements with police agencies, including agencies from outside the state, to support the 2028 Games. If such a model were adopted, the burden of contracting outside police forces could shift to the state rather than directly to the city. But the document simultaneously emphasizes that, regardless of the administrative model, it is expected that attempts will be made to cover these contracted costs from federal security funding.
The LA28 organizing committee, according to the vehicle memorandum, stated that it does not have a special budget line for police operations and that it is seeking additional federal support for security needs. This issue has been weighing on the relationship between the city and the organizers for months because Los Angeles is trying to ensure that additional public costs connected with the Games do not remain without a clear source of coverage. According to the LA28 annual report submitted to the city for 2023, the total Games budget remains 6.9 billion dollars, but that organizational budget does not automatically resolve the issue of all public services that the city and other authorities must provide during the event.
The federal security designation brings support, but does not remove local obligations
The U.S. Secret Service announced in June 2024 that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the greater Los Angeles area had been designated a National Special Security Event. According to that announcement, it is the earliest such security designation ever granted to an event. The designation means that the federal government has the leading coordination role in security planning and that significant federal resources are involved. However, LAPD documents show that the designation does not mean federal agents will fill all police positions needed on the ground.
In the report, the LAPD states that, according to its current understanding, each of the daily shortfalls during the peak period must be filled by an outside police officer because these are roles for which the Secret Service, as the lead agency within the NSSE, has advised that federal agents will not take over. The document adds that the governor's office has not yet committed members of the National Guard for operations connected with the Games. Such wording shows that security preparations are still in the phase of negotiation and development, especially around the questions of who provides personnel, who manages them and who bears the cost.
In practice, security for the Games will not be the task of just one institution. The LAPD states that its Major Events Group is cooperating with the Secret Service and the LA28 organizing committee on plans for locations covered by the security designation. But competitions and accompanying activities will be held across the wider area of Southern California and outside the city limits of Los Angeles, which means that other local jurisdictions will also have their own obligations. For that reason, the LAPD cost relates only to part of the broader security picture, not to the total security bill for the entire Games.
The budget debate is taking place in the city's broader financial context
Mayor Karen Bass in April 2026 presented Los Angeles's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026/2027 in the amount of 14.85 billion dollars. According to the mayor's office announcement, the budget provides for hiring 510 new officers and a target of 8,555 police officers in that year, with a long-term ambition of reaching 9,500 officers. That figure is important because the LAPD anticipates that in 2028 it could have about 8,400 sworn officers, less than the level needed to cover the peak workload of the Games on its own.
The estimate may change as plans become more concrete
In its own report, the LAPD warns that the figure of 1.15 billion dollars is the best modeled estimate in April 2026, not the final cost. The document states that staffing requirements and costs can expectedly increase, not decrease, as planning progresses, the requirements of individual locations are specified and the city includes its own public events connected with the Games in the security picture. Such a warning is important because major sporting events often change as the date approaches, especially when specific perimeters, routes, ceremonies, protocols for high-ranking guests and the movement of large crowds are defined.
That is precisely why the budget debate is now not only about the amount of 1.15 billion dollars, but about the division of responsibility among the city, the state, the federal government, outside police agencies and the organizing committee. According to available documents, part of the answer should be clearer after the publication of federal funding rules in autumn 2026. Until then, city officials will have to make decisions based on estimates, procurement deadlines and the need for Los Angeles to welcome 2028 with enough people, vehicles and operational readiness, but also with a clearer picture of which costs will ultimately be returned from outside the city budget.
Sources:
- City of Los Angeles / Office of the City Administrative Officer – memorandum on the LAPD deployment model and cost estimate for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (link)
- City of Los Angeles / Office of the City Administrative Officer – memorandum on the LAPD request for vehicles connected with the 2028 Games (link)
- ABC7 Los Angeles – report on the LAPD's 1.15 billion dollar projection and reactions to security planning (link)
- LA28 – official announcement of the dates of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles 2028 (link)
- U.S. Secret Service – announcement on designating the 2028 Games as a National Special Security Event (link)
- Office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – announcement of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026/2027 (link)
- City of Los Angeles / CAO and CLA – LA28 annual report for 2024 with an overview of the organizing committee's budget and financial obligations (link)
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