Council Panel Favors Patrolling of Balboa Park by Private Force

Parking lots in Balboa Park should be patrolled around the clock by a private security force, a San Diego City Council committee agreed by a 4-0 vote Wednesday.

Concern over crime in the park, prompted by the murder of an actor there in February and increasing reports of vandalism and thefts in the tree-shrouded parking lots, was part of a wide-ranging afternoon workshop on how to fight crime in San Diego.

During a three-hour hearing, the five-member Public Service and Safety Committee--with two more council members sitting in because they considered the topic so important--also considered such issues as whether hiring more police officers would reduce crime and whether there was fat somewhere in next year’s budget that could be trimmed to beef up police patrols.

Although the committee Wednesday did not recommend an immediate budget increase for the Police Department, it appeared from their comments that they would probably would do so during budget hearings this June.

At least one top police official interpreted the hearing that way. Said Deputy Police Chief Norm Stamper as the hearing ended, “I think there will be a significant increase in the size of the Police Department. How large that will be I don’t know. But it will be next year. That’s the sound of it.”

Ironically, Police Chief William Kolender, who along with other top brass from the department was quizzed by the committee, repeatedly testified that he couldn’t guarantee that crime would be reduced even if the number of police officers were increased.

“I don’t think police manpower could be based on the conclusion that given all these (additional) men, crimes will go down,” Kolender told Councilman Ed Struiksma. “Do something about racism, socioeconomic conditions, and then you will see a decrease in crime, sir,” Kolender said.

Council members weren’t convinced. As Councilman Uvaldo Martinez noted, “We don’t want to see San Diego become like a Detroit. I’m concerned that we do something so we don’t become like other urban centers.”

Councilman Ed Struiksma wanted to know why all patrol cars shouldn’t be manned by two officers instead of the department’s current system of maintaining two-officer patrols only in selected high crime areas.

When Kolender replied that he didn’t think that was appropriate for “all cars,” Struiksma, a former police officer, replied, “Well, chief . . . I’m hearing from a lot of people that there should be two officers per car 24 hours a day.”

Council members’ interest in crime-related issues has been heightened recently by several developments.

One was the Feb. 27 slaying of Old Globe actor David Huffman in Balboa Park. The killing shocked the city, especially those who work in museums and businesses located in the park who were already worried about the rise of thefts and car break-ins there. Huffman died after he came upon a couple whose parked car had just been broken into. He was stabbed to death after he chased the suspect into a secluded canyon.

Another factor was a delayed report from the city manager’s office on police safety and whether San Diego should increase the ratio of police officers from its current ratio of 1.46 officers per 1,000 residents to a ratio of two officers per 1,000.

City Council members first requested the report last July but it was not ready by an April committee hearing. In the meantime three police officers had been killed, including Police Officer Thomas Riggs on March 31, making San Diego’s mortality rate for police officers the highest in the nation, according to officials from the Police Officers Assn.

At an April 27 committee hearing, council members lambasted the city manager’s office for its alleged insensitivity to police safety issues. Wednesday’s hearing was a continuation of the April 27 debate.

Many City Hall observers have suggested the police safety issue has become a political football. They claim that the POA, which is in the middle of negotiating next year’s labor contract with the city, is making the most of the issue, as are several council members who are either up for reelection or thinking about running for mayor.

The council committee Wednesday decided to recommend to the full council that the city hire private security guards to patrol the parking lots. Such guards would not make arrests but would call nearby police who are now on routine patrol in the park, Assistant Police Chief Bob Burgreen said. Two private security firms have bid for the contract--A.D.T. Security Systems for $317,448 a year and Pinkerton’s for $216,720 a year, according to a city manager’s report, and A.D.T. could start work with one week’s notice.

Additionally, after discussion of two-officer patrols and increasing the ratio of police officers to two per 1,000 residents, the committee asked the city manager’s office to list where additional officers would be used and in what priority. The committee also asked the city manager’s office to assess the fiscal impact of hiring additional officers on the 1986 budget.

Councilman William Jones, who was not a member of the Public Services and Safety Committee but attended most of Wednesday’s session, repeatedly asked outgoing City Manager Ray Blair if there was “any fat” in Blair’s proposed budget for 1986 which could be cut in order to hire more police officers.

Blair, bristling at the idea that he had included fat in his proposed $533 million budget, said curtly, “Not in my opinion . . . If there were a lot of fat, I’d be shocked because that’s not the way we put together the budget.”

Blair told council members that if they wanted to increase the Police Department budget for 1986, they would have to make a policy decision in the June budget hearings to cut other city programs.