Sheriff’s SWAT Team, Helicopter Survive Budget Ax

Sheriff Jim Roache’s SWAT team and Astrea helicopter, part of $2.9 million in proposed cuts for the Sheriff’s Department, were rescued Monday by the County Board of Supervisors.

The eleventh-hour budget amendments, which must be formally ratified by the supervisors, also will save 49 positions in the undermanned Sheriff’s Department.

Part of the funding, however, will require renegotiation of a union agreement that allows 95 Sheriff’s Department employees to take county cars home at night.

A $2.9-million reduction to the sheriff’s special enforcement division, helicopter service, crime prevention unit and public affairs department had been proposed as part of an effort to plug a $30.6-million gap in the county’s $1.9-billion budget for fiscal 1991-92.

Roache pledged to fund the programs by saving $1.3 million in overtime pay and spending $500,000 in unanticipated revenue from the nine cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department.

Another $500,000 would be saved by scaling back the number of department employees who take county cars home for the night, reducing county costs for gas and maintenance, Roache said. That provision could be enacted only if the Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. agrees to amend the provision, he said.