SOUTH COUNTY : Cities Seek Police Protection Options

Citing rising county fees, six South County communities are rethinking their contracts with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for police protection.

The fast-growing cities of Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and the soon-to-be-incorporated communities of Laguna Hills and Lake Forest have banded together to hire a consultant to analyze the costs of law enforcement alternatives.

With populations booming, municipal spending is now coming under closer scrutiny, city officials said. The one-year police service contracts now issued by the County Board of Supervisors without local input may not be the best way to do business, the officials agreed.

“We are concerned about cost control,” said Fred Sorsabol, the city manager of Mission Viejo and a spokesman for the six communities. “We know the county is hurting, but, as we see it, there is a problem relating to how costs are calculated to the cities.”

In his community alone, Sorsabol said, costs have risen by $1 million in two years to a total of $5.2 million annually, without any increase in service.

“We would like some sort of cost cap,” Sorsabol said. “Last year alone, we were hit with a 14% increase in overhead costs.”

The six communities currently have a total of 258,420 people spread out over 78.4 square miles. But the population is expected to grow by as much as 40% in the next 10 years.

In Laguna Niguel, for example, the current population of just over 40,000 could reach 55,000 or 60,000 by 2001, City Manager Tim Casey said. His city must plan ahead for that type of growth, Casey said.

“Each of those people translates directly to more law enforcement services,” Casey said, adding that not being able to predict future police costs “makes any fiscal planning very difficult.”

That lack of predictability irks the city officials most. All they know is that each year the price will go up, with no way to tell how much.

In Dana Point, a city of 32,000 people, police costs have risen from $1.6 million in 1988, a year before incorporation, to $3.7 million for 1991-92.

“We can’t keep going on like we are,” Dana Point Mayor Mike Eggers said. “At some point we have to say, ‘Wait a minute; we love the Sheriff’s Department, but we can’t afford them.’ In Dana Point, police costs take up a third of our budget.”

Most of the South County officials point to the Board of Supervisors, rather than the Sheriff’s Department, as the problem.

“The real tragedy is that the Sheriff’s Department is getting caught in the middle,” Eggers said. “The negotiations are not with their representatives; they just make the presentations.”

Costs, not service, are at issue, the South County contingent says. When city officials complained, they were told to take a look elsewhere for police services, Sorsabol said.

“We didn’t choose this battleground . . . but we’re here,” Sorsabol said. “The prudent management thing to do is to examine alternatives.”

William O. Talley, the city manager of Dana Point, agreed.

“This is not something we advocated or look forward to doing,” he said. “We are very satisfied with the Sheriff’s Department, and we recognize it supplies a substantial profit center for the county. But we must examine this as an alternative.”

A contract for a consultant will be awarded by Oct. 1 with a report due by Dec. 1.