Long Beach : Council Votes $29,000 on Study of Law Enforcement

After more than two hours of heated debate, the City Council approved a $29,000 study to examine the cost of replacing the city Police Department with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

The council’s 4-3 vote was sparked by concerns about the quality and cost of law enforcement. The city already has contracted with the Sheriff’s Department to patrol parts of Long Beach, and some council members have argued that the city could save millions of dollars by disbanding the Police Department and hiring sheriff’s deputies instead. Councilmen Warren Harwood and Les Robbins abstained from the vote because they are both county employees.

The $29,000 funds only the first of two phases of the study, and some council members were reluctant to vote for the expenditure without knowing how much the second phase will cost. “I’m not willing to give up the dollars when no one’s telling me where the dollars will go--we never found out how much phase two will cost,” said Councilman Ray Grabinski, who, along with Councilmen Clarence Smith and Tom Clark, voted against the measure.