Los Angeles police officers will have more discretion over when to activate the lights and sirens on their patrol cars under a policy approved today by the City Council.

The revised policy means LAPD officers can decide to respond "code three" to any emergency - defined as a serious public hazard, an immediate pursuit, the preservation of life or a serious crime in progress. Multiple units are also allowed to respond code three to the same emergency. Currently, only one unit can respond code three to a situation.

By activating the lights and siren on their cars, officers can speed, run red lights and break other rules of the road. LAPD brass and City Council members hope the policy stops a practice known as "code two and a half," which occurs when officers are racing to the scene of a crime but do not use their lights or sirens to alert other motorists.

"We've seen human lives lost and we've seen the city treasury get hit hard,'' said City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. In the last three years, the city has paid out $11 million in lawsuits involving officers who were driving 'code two and a half,'" he said. Councilman Bernard Parks, a former chief of the department, and Councilwoman Jan Perry, voted against the policy change. Parks cautioned that the revision rewards officers who have been violating department policy by speeding to emergencies without authorization from dispatchers.

"If you don't know they are going code three, you can't supervise," Parks said. "A guy in Devonshire could put on his red light and drive to 77th (division) because in his mind he's made a judgement that is dangerous."

Cmdr. Stuart Maislin told the council that officers should not have to tell dispatchers they are going code three because too many calls could tie up the radio frequency, which needs to remain clear for critical information. "The unit that needs to get back on the air to provide additionalinformation to responding units, for example, which way to approach so that they don't drive into the kill zone or the fact that they need an ambulance for a downed officer, they won't be able to get on the air and they won't be able to make that broadcast," Maislin said. The revised policy is effective immediately.