L.B. Patrol Deal With Sheriff Stirs Anger : Law enforcement: Community groups fear losing the ability to review brutality complaints as the City Council votes to hire 46 deputies to augment the Police Department.

The City Council’s decision this week to hire sheriff’s deputies to patrol parts of the city met with overwhelming opposition from several community groups afraid of losing the ability to review complaints of brutality.

The council voted 5 to 2 Tuesday to hire 46 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to patrol about a fifth of the city until 1994, a move they said will provide immediate relief for a burgeoning crime problem and an understaffed Police Department.

When the deputies hit Long Beach streets Oct. 15, they will free 43 officers working in the northeastern and northernmost areas to patrol other parts of the city.

“The cry I’ve been hearing is for more police, and that cry is deafening,” Mayor Ernie Kell said. “We are badly understaffed, and this will give us an opportunity to build up.”

Councilmen Ray Grabinski and Clarence Smith dissented, both arguing that the plan was pushed through with insufficient public comment.

“I’ve heard more debate over a contract for damned typewriters than I’ve heard on this $5-million contract,” Grabinski said.

It is customary to refer proposals to council committees for public discussion. Tuesday was the first time that details of the deputies proposal were publicly presented.

Smith’s main objection was repeated over and again Tuesday by residents and representatives of several community groups. They opposed the plan because it will mean that the newly formed Citizen Police Complaint Commission will not be able to review brutality complaints against the deputies, who are county employees.

“The civilian police review board is a tremendous asset to the community and should not be circumvented,” said Jack Castiglione of the predominantly gay Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club.

“This is an effort to get rid of” the review board, said Ernie McBride of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Noting that voters approved creation of the commission last April, Renee Greenfield, president of the Long Beach League of Women Voters, told the council: “Can the City Council negate a vote for a charter amendment? I’m puzzled.”

Alan Lowenthal, president of the Long Beach Area Citizens Involved, echoed similar concerns and questioned whether the council is ignoring a mandate by the voters.

“We want the community to be respected,” he said.

The Police Officers Assn. cited similar concerns and joined representatives of the black and gay communities, who had long complained of racism and harassment by Long Beach officers, to ask the council to keep the department’s officers where they are.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. John Hammargren, who oversees contract law enforcement, said his agency’s policy is to investigate all citizen complaints.

“We objectively evaluate the findings,” said Sheriff’s Division Chief Ray Morris, who oversees the southeast region of Los Angeles County.

Deputies have a good relationship with the gay community in West Hollywood, Hammargren and Morris told the council.

But Mike Tracy, president of the police union, was not convinced. The union supported the Citizen Police Complaint Commission. Tracy said the plan, believed to be the first in California to pair two law enforcement agencies in one city, will be demoralizing to the rank and file.

In the recent past, Police Chief Lawrence Binkley has referred comments on controversial matters to City Manager James C. Hankla. Binkley was not present at the council meeting Tuesday.

Supporters argued that the need for more police is immediate. “We’re in the midst of a crisis. It’s a crisis in crime,” Councilman Wallace Edgerton said.

As crime has continued to increase, the number of officers on the street has dipped. Although the department is budgeted for 691 officers, it has 580 working, according to Assistant Police Chief Gene Brizzolara.

In addition to 59 vacancies, 52 officers are on leaves of absence because of injuries and other reasons, he said. And although the department has chosen its next set of 12 recruits to begin training Oct. 8, it expects to lose 43 officers eligible to retire in December.

“The state recommends officers have 33% of their time uncommitted to patrol,” Brizzolara said. “The way we’re operating, they have none. They’re either on calls or backlogged.”

Supporters who addressed the council Tuesday noted that the plan will mean more police officers throughout the city.

“It will free up more police officers for my neighborhood,” said Mike Donelon, a resident of California Heights. Deputies assigned to North Long Beach will enable the department to redeploy officers to Donelon’s neighborhood.

Robert Lamond, a resident of one of the districts that will be patrolled by sheriff’s deputies, told the council: “I do think we have an urgent need for more police in other parts of the city.”

Hankla reminded the council and the audience that the plan is a temporary one, with the sheriff’s deputies to be phased out over the next four years.

The deputies will patrol north of Market Street and north of Spring Street, east of Lakewood Boulevard. They will work out of the Long Beach Police Academy, with the command staff based at the sheriff’s station in Lakewood.

The cost of deputies for the rest of the 1990-91 fiscal year is $3.8 million, according to a report by Hankla. The cost for 12 months of service is $5.4 million. The 46 positions are in addition to other booking, jailing and detective services.

The cost of one sheriff’s deputy is $213,000 annually; a Long Beach police officer costs $288,000. The price tag for a deputy is lower in part because counties are prohibited by state law from charging cities for some services, according to Hankla.

The city is paying for the deputies with revenue from a recently adopted utility tax increase.

The term of the contract is from Oct. 15 to June 30, 1994. Either party may terminate the agreement by giving 60 days’ notice. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must also approve the contract.

Voting for the plan were Councilmen Evan Anderson Braude, Tom Clark, Doug Drummond, Wallace Edgerton and Jeff Kellogg. Councilmen Les Robbins and Warren Harwood were disqualified from voting because they are county employees.