LOS ANGELES (CNS) — As part of his campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, City Attorney Mike Feuer Monday called for more Los Angeles police officers amid a rise in violent crime that has occurred in LA and big cities across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feuer spoke Monday morning from the Stanley Mosk Superior Court Building to unveil his "Neighborhood Safety Plan," which includes a call for "more deployment, more cops, more violence prevention, more neighborhood problem-solving, and reforms to so-called $0 bail."

Feuer proposed expanding the Los Angeles Police Department to include at least 10,000 officers, up from about 9,473. The LAPD is seeking additional funding in the next fiscal year that would restore staffing levels to 9,800 sworn officers. Such a move would fly in the face of many vocal community activists who have called for a vast scaling back of law enforcement funding nationally in response to much-publicized incidents of police brutality, most notably the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Feuer's "Neighborhood Safety Plan" focuses on a community-centered policing model aimed at establishing a relationship between the LAPD and the public, including expansion of the Community Safety Partnership which puts officers in specific neighborhoods for long periods of time to earn trust and respect from residents. Feuer also said he supports expanding the Crisis Response Teams of social workers and mental health professionals that respond to some nonviolent 9-1-1 calls.

Feuer additionally called for an end to zero-bail for many crimes, saying "suspects should be held in jail or restricted by monitored ankle bracelets — not released to the street — until a risk assessment reveals they do not pose a danger to the public."

The city attorney cited an increase in violent crime since the start of the pandemic, as well as a recent trend in smash-and-grab robberies in which groups of thieves raid stores and steal merchandise.

Los Angeles' temporary zero bail schedule for low-level felonies and misdemeanors took effect in June 2020 as a measure to prevent further spread of COVID-19 in county jails. District Attorney George Gascón, who supports ending the cash bail system in Los Angeles, argues that the system "allows wealthy people who are dangerous to purchase their freedom while those without means who pose no risk to public safety languish in jail awaiting trial," according to a statement from earlier this year. He added that some people's inability to make bail "leads to them losing their jobs, homes and access to treatment while separating them from their children."

As part of his "Neighborhood Safety Plan," Feuer also said he would establish a Mayor's Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and work to clean trash and illuminate city streets to prevent them from inviting crime.

"Studies have shown that when communities are cleaned up, crime goes down. I have pledged to create one million additional hours of neighborhood cleanup and beautification each year — 200 more hours per week in every one of LA's neighborhoods — and employ people experiencing homelessness, among others, to get the job done," Feuer said.

Feuer is running for mayor in 2022 to replace a termed-out Mayor Eric Garcetti. He will face several high-profile candidates in the June 7 primary, including Rep. Karen Bass, and City Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Kevin de León. The top two finishers will square off in the general election Nov. 8.