Study Spurs Push to Get More Police Patrols on Streets

City Council members, reacting favorably this week to a politically sensitive consultant’s report that criticizes Police Department staffing, indicated they will pursue recommendations to get more patrols on the streets.

“Obviously it is too costly to continue doing business as we have been doing business,” Mayor Ernie Kell said Tuesday night, after the council heard the highlights of the report. “I feel many of (the recommendations) are very, very valid.”

Prepared at the council’s request by Ralph Andersen & Associates, the report concluded that Long Beach pays more for its police protection than four other California cities and gets less in return. “We don’t believe any community can afford the current methods of operation,” Clay Brown, the consulting company’s president, told the council.

Practices Faulted

The report faulted two staffing practices in particular, both of which are written into the police officers’ union contract. One allows officers to work four days a week for 10 hours, rather than shorter hours for five days, and one requires all night patrol cars to be staffed by two officers.

Most other cities use one-person patrols except in special circumstances, putting more patrol cars on the streets, Brown said.

Although the 650-member department has consistently said it needs many more officers to handle its workload, Brown attributed that staff shortage to the two-officer night patrol policy.

“To the extent the officers have told you they are short staffed and busy, they are absolutely correct,” Brown said. But he added that if the department eliminated the two-person patrols and sent out more patrol cars with one officer, it would be able to handle its workload with its current staff.

If it continues with the two-person cars at night, then the department would need another 200 officers, at an annual cost of $12.7 million, to properly handle the volume of calls it receives.

The study examined the police departments of five other cities: San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, Santa Ana and San Jose. Only Oakland spends more on its department on a per capita basis, yet Long Beach sends out 88% fewer patrol cares on a 24-hour basis than the average of the five other cities.

“Obviously, changes would appear to be necessary,” Vice Mayor Wallace Edgerton said. Councilman Tom Clark, calling the report one of the most significant studies done for the city, said, “I think this is certainly a move in the right direction.”

Committee Gets Report

The council sent the report to the city manager and its Public Safety Committee for review and hearings, after which it will go before the full council.

Attempts to get rid of the two-person night patrols are likely to further inflame an already heated contract battle between the powerful police union and the city Administration, which is wrestling for more control over staffing practices.

Last week Mike Tracy, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Assn., defended the two-man patrols, saying they allowed police to respond more quickly in the most dangerous situations, rather than having to wait for a backup unit to arrive.