Stanton Will Disband Its Police, Contract With Sheriff Department

Faced with dwindling city revenue, the Stanton City Council unanimously approved a $2.7-million proposal Tuesday night to disband its Police Department and contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for police services.

Tuesday night’s action was approved after a hearing in which Assistant Sheriff Dennis LaDucer said the Sheriff’s Department could provide greater law enforcement services to the city of 29,000 for less than the $2.9-million annual cost of the Police Department.

The transition to sheriff’s deputies will be effective Feb. 1.

The Police Department is the second major Stanton department to be disbanded. Earlier this year, because of the same set of financial restrictions, the City Council eliminated the Fire Department and chose to contract through the Orange County Fire Department for fire protection services.

The decision to disband the police came just weeks after voters rejected a tax override that would have generated an additional $353,000 a year for police services.

But Measure G, as the override was designated, was proposed as a “feeler” to gauge whether residents wanted to continue supporting their own Police Department, according to city officials.

Councilman Ed Allen, a former Stanton police chief who seconded Tuesday’s motion to adopt the new plan, had said he did not want to lose the Police Department because the city would lose part of its identity.

“But if going with the sheriff proves to be more cost-effective, then to be fair to the taxpayers I would have to go with the transfer,” he had said earlier.

Under the new plan, the city’s 32 sworn officers and other police personnel will be allowed to apply, if they choose, for a deputy sheriff’s job or some other county position.

The job offers also extended to Police Chief Robert Eason, who had strongly recommended conversion to the Sheriff’s Department because a lack of city finances had begun to undermine police services.

Low property tax assessments and a lack of open space for new development had combined to reduce annual revenue, Eason said. In addition, the dwindling revenue could not keep pace with a greater demand for city services from an increasing population, he said.

Ten years ago, the Police Department’s average response time for emergency calls was 3.8 minutes, with an average response time for non-emergencies at 12.4 minutes.

But the city underwent freezes on wage hikes and its low budget prevented adding new officers, Eason said. And as a result, while emergency response time remained about the same, response time for non-emergencies increased to 35 to 40 minutes.

During the hearing, LaDucer made it clear that enough slots for additional deputies were left open for the city’s officers should they choose to join the larger department.

The Sheriff’s Department, in the three contract proposals reviewed by the City Council at Tuesday’s meeting, said it could provide police protection for between $2.2 million and $2.7 million annually, depending on how much coverage the city wants.

The council selected the most expensive plan, which would add one patrol officer to each shift in Stanton. In addition, that plan would add two more detectives, two motorcycle officers and two more investigators for special assignments.

A captain would head what LaDucer referred to as the sheriff’s new west Orange County substation.