Cities Grapple With Police Patrols, Complaints : Law enforcement: Sheriff’s Department says the city could save up to $29 million per year if it switches to county deputies for protection. The council engages in bitter debate on the issue.

The ink has barely dried on a proposal to replace the Long Beach Police Department with county sheriff’s patrols, but already the deeply divisive issue has inflamed the City Council, pitting members against one another in a glimpse of the battle to come.

Tempers flared openly Tuesday as the council began discussion of a sheriff’s report claiming that the city could save millions of dollars a year and enjoy better police service if it abolished the local force and replaced it with patrols from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Only a few years ago, the idea of disbanding the 84-year-old Long Beach agency would have been dismissed as absurd. But mounting fiscal worries, rising crime and continuing unrest in the Police Department have combined to give the proposal surprising momentum.

The battle lines are forming around issues of local control, improved police service and money. Some council members have argued that it is impossible to ignore potential savings of as much as $29 million a year, while others insist that the fate of the department should hinge on much more than money.

“Cost has never been the real issue here,” insisted Councilman Wallace Edgerton, who said he would prefer to ditch the proposal immediately. “You become your own city because you want local control. . . . I think we need to get behind the Police Department (and say) ‘We want you; we’re going to support you.’ ”

Edgerton and several other councilmen have said they are opposed to placing the matter on the ballot, dimming chances that the issue would go before voters in June as the council’s pro-sheriff faction had hoped. Still, sheriff’s proponents argued for quick action.

“Our financial situation . . . is only going to get worse,” predicted Councilman Les Robbins, a sheriff’s deputy who favors sheriff’s patrols. “It’s a dollars-and-cents issue. It always has been and it always will be.”

In a report released to the council last week, the county sheriff estimated that his department could put 79 more officers on the street than Long Beach, add 14 more detectives and exchange the Long Beach department’s headquarters for three sheriff’s stations--all for about $29 million a year less than it costs the city to maintain its own force.

City Manager James Hankla has cautioned, however, that the $29-million figure should by no means be considered final. There are millions of dollars in ongoing costs, such as police pensions and Workers’ Compensation, that the city would continue to bear, as well as other savings that have not been taken into account, he said.

Hankla’s office and City Auditor Robert Fronke are examining the figures, and they expect to have more definitive savings estimates in four to five weeks.

In the meantime, the police union and some community groups are lobbying for the department, and council members are delivering verbal punches.

Tuesday’s discussion became particularly heated after nearly three hours of debate when Robbins criticized Paul Chastain, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Assn.

Showing a video of remarks Chastain made before the Hermosa Beach City Council last year when that city was discussing sheriff’s services, Robbins accused Chastain of making inaccurate and misleading statements about the Sheriff’s Department.

Chastain angrily responded that Robbins “obviously has his own agenda. He likes to publicly bash the Long Beach Police Department.”

“I’m going to show you that if this goes to ballot, Mr. Robbins, you’re not going to intimidate me. . . . If you think you’re a better cop than me, prove it,” Chastain growled.

Councilman Ray Gabrinski jumped into the fray, calling Robbins, “Mr. Bully.” He went on to say that if sheriff’s deputies “treat my 18-year-old the way (Robbins) has treated me, I don’t want any sheriffs.”

The exchange illustrated the depth of feeling in the police debate, characterized by several city leaders as one of the most important issues ever to go before the council.

“I am concerned that if we don’t resolve this soon, we’re really going to divide this city,” said a worried Councilman Clarence Smith, who said he was “totally against” replacing the Long Beach Police Department with sheriff’s deputies.

“When the sheriff comes in, we’ll have no citizen participation,” Smith warned, echoing community concerns that the city’s recently formed Citizen Police Complaint Commission would be dismantled if the city switched to the sheriff’s department. The proposed change would eliminate a citizens’ forum for reviewing brutality complaints.

Councilman Douglas Drummond, a retired Long Beach police commander, said he would prefer to retain a local department but would “not tolerate one more year of poor police service.” If the city is unwilling to pay for better services of its own, he continued, then it should turn to the sheriff, who has offered a “terrific blueprint” for police coverage.

Comments from the public favored the department, stressing the need for local control. “We in Long Beach are considering turning back the hands of time by bringing in the Sheriff’s Department,” asserted Rod Givens. “The issue is greater than simply saving dollars. . . . It’s a human issue,” he continued, arguing that the sheriff’s department has had problems in dealing with minority communities.

The council will take the issue up again when it gets more information from the city manager’s office.