W. Hollywood Study Says a Police Force Would Be Expensive

It would cost $12 million to $14 million a year for West Hollywood to operate its own police force, far more than the $8.5 million annually that the city pays the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for police services, a study by city officials has found.

City Manager Paul Brotzman said the feasibility study “demonstrates in dramatic fashion” that West Hollywood’s contract with the Sheriff’s Department, which expires next year, “represents a bargain.”

The study by the city’s administrative staff, the results of which Brotzman made public last week, will be presented to the City Council on June 5.

But some gay rights activists, who have accused the Sheriff’s Department of lacking sensitivity in dealing with gays, expressed skepticism about the study’s finding.

‘Decision Already Made’

“This isn’t really a feasibility study as much as a confirmation by city officials of a decision that’s already been made not to alter the city’s relationship with the Sheriff’s Department,” said Jean Conger, executive director of Southern California Women for Understanding, a lesbian rights group.

“By saying what a bargain the department represents, what they’re really saying is to put all the criticism behind us and get on with the process,” she said.

Conger said she favors an independent study by outside consultants to determine whether it is economically feasible for the city to establish its own police force.

The Sheriff’s Department provides police protection to West Hollywood--where an estimated 35% of the 37,000 residents are gay--under a five-year contract that expires in July, 1990.

Although city officials and others have praised the Sheriff’s Department for its crime-fighting abilities, gays have frequently complained to the City Council of harassment by deputies.

Recently, the City Council voted unanimously to create a seven-member Public Safety Commission that will, among other things, hear allegations of abuses on the part of sheriff’s deputies.

The city is helping to coordinate the recruitment of new sheriff’s deputies for the West Hollywood area. Although officials of the Sheriff’s Department have denied that the effort is aimed at increasing the number of gay deputies, city officials have focused their efforts on the gay community.

About 50 gay activists have endorsed a petition circulated by Councilman Steve Schulte that calls for the department to hire openly gay men and women as deputies. The petition also criticizes city officials for not taking a more aggressive role in the matter.

The idea for the feasibility study came from Councilman John Heilman, who has often appeared at odds with Schulte on the issue, preferring to work behind the scenes to persuade the Sheriff’s Department to change its policies.

In calling for the study last month, Heilman said he expected it would show that West Hollywood’s arrangement with the Sheriff’s Department is a bargain. From the outset, Brotzman described the study as a “documentation exercise,” saying the study did not signal that the city was interested in forming its own police force.

Saying he has yet to see the study, Heilman said last week that the results “seem to confirm the suspicion we’ve had all along that it would cost substantially more to start our own police department.”

“I think that (the study) tells us that we need to work more closely with the Sheriff’s Department to make our relationship with them work even better,” he said.

Brotzman said the study assumed a police force similar in size to the 120-deputy contingent assigned to the West Hollywood sheriff’s station, as well as amortization of the building, patrol cars and other equipment.

“What we came up with were totals that surprised me, personally,” he said. “I would have thought we might sustain our own department for $11 million or $12 million, and the figures turned out to be higher than that,” he said.

Pleased With Results

Although some gay activists expressed skepticism, others said they were pleased with the results.

“I’ve always thought it would be much more expensive for the city to operate its own (police) department,” Wuzzy Spaulding said. “The study doesn’t do anything to damage the city’s bargaining position with the Sheriff’s Department in terms of trying to bring about changes.”

“It just says that we’re serious enough about a possible alternative to look at the cost. If people become dissatisfied enough to want to pay the difference, they always have that option.”