The Los Angeles City Council approved a hiring freeze for police and firefighters.

A major expansion of the Los Angeles Police Department is in jeopardy after a City Council panel approved a hiring freeze for police and firefighters. The full council will consider the proposal next week after the city's budget and finance committee voted on the freeze Wednesday in hopes of offsetting a $529 million budget gap.

The council's chief legislative analyst, Gerry Miller, also recommended laying off 800 civilian city workers and instituting unpaid furloughs. Police Chief William Bratton said a hiring freeze would reverse falling crime rates. The department has nearly 9,900 officers - 750 more than when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took office in 2005. Bratton told the AP in March he hoped to hire hundreds more officers.