In November 1997, the Department did something for the first time in forty years in taking over another police department—the MTA Transit Police. Originally touted as a merger process, this became a political football with members of the City Council fighting the mayor's "one city—one police department" plan to eliminate all of the smaller, specialized police forces (Transit Police, Airport Police, School Police, Park Rangers, etc.). In the end, only about 130 of the originally slated 200 officers of the MTA Transit Police came to the LAPD, with about the same number going to the LASD (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department). After less than five years, the MTA removed LAPD from the transit policing contract it had established with LAPD and LASD, and LASD was given the entire MTA contract. As of 2006, only 96 of those officers remained with the LAPD.