SEAL BEACH : City May Reactivate Police Reserve Force

Officials are taking a closer look at reactivating the city’s defunct police reserve force and will probably present the plan to the City Council early next year.

The City Council approved spending $5,000 last month to study the possibility of reviving the police reserves as part of the 1992-93 budget. However, officials caution that even with this initial expenditure, it could take years before Seal Beach has a reserve force again.

“What we included in the budget is basically to look at, research, and develop the program,” said City Manager Jerry L. Bankston. He said officials will be looking at the cost of reactivating the reserves and whether to develop an in-house training program or use an outside agency.

Like other cities throughout the county, Seal Beach is experiencing hard times financially, and Police Department funding has dropped from more than $4.1 million to $3.8 million in the last few years. However, the lost funding has yet to affect the number of sworn police officers, and officials said that reactivation of the reserve force would not serve to replace police employees.

“Reserves are an additional resource,” said Lt. Kenneth Mollohan. “We wouldn’t be bringing in reserves and getting rid of sworn officers.”

He said that, among other things, reserve officers would be used to supplement beach patrols, provide additional crowd control during city events and transport documents.

Seal Beach lost its reserve police force more than four years ago after officials said that conforming to new state standards for reserves would have cost the city too much money.

The state standards set up levels of operations for reserve officers, with each level determining such things as whether reserves carry weapons, Bankston said. In reinstating the reserves program, officials would have to determine at what capacity, according to state standards, they want their reserve officers to operate.

Another concern is how the city will pay for a reserve force. “Reserves will add to the budget, not reduce it,” Bankston said.

Bankston estimated that maintaining one reserve officer would cost the city at least $300 to $350 in monthly compensation, plus benefits and liability costs. He said the city does not have the money to put into a reserve force.