Snowden Will Head Police Chiefs Assn.

Police Chief Dave Snowden has been selected to head the California Police Chiefs Assn., a professional organization with more than 350 members that lobbies the state Legislature on law enforcement issues.

Snowden, 48, has spent 26 years in law enforcement and has been the Costa Mesa police chief since 1986.

In his capacity as president, Snowden said, he will be able to talk with the attorney general and the governor on issues relating to crime and enforcement. Recently, he has advocated finding an alternative to counties charging cities fees for booking prisoners into the county jails.

“It’s a safety issue because a number of prisoners are being let out onto the street instead of being sent to jail,” he said, referring to city budget woes that force officers to cite and release more offenders rather than booking them.

Costa Mesa pays $154 per person booked in County Jail.

Snowden contends that residents are being doubly taxed because they pay for the county jails, yet they are being charged again when a prisoner must be booked. He also said the county has other options, such as initiating a utility tax to make up for lost revenue or charging the person booked, instead of giving cities the extra burden of paying that fee.

“They’ve got a whole bunch of options, but they don’t want to bite the bullet,” he said.

Snowden has also spoken against a bill in the state Senate that he said would make it more difficult for police chiefs to discipline officers. Called the “Rogue Cop” bill, AB 2067 is an amendment to the Peace Officers Bill of Rights. The association has met with legislators to oppose that amendment.

Snowden will serve as president for one year.