Police Employees to Hear Sheriff’s Pitch

As rumors and tensions continue to increase about the fate of the city’s Police Department, officers and civilian employees hope to have some of their most pressing questions about their future answered next week.

Representatives of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will be meeting with all Police Department employees Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to answer questions about what might happen if the city contracts with the county to patrol the streets.

“It’s kind of a scary thing,” said Detective Andy Ferguson, the newly elected president of the San Clemente Peace Officers Assn. “We’re just trying to ease the tension by getting some information out.”

At the request of the City Council, the Sheriff’s Department recently submitted a proposal to assume law enforcement duties from the 65-year-old police force.

City officials, grappling with increasingly severe budget shortfalls, are also reviewing about a dozen other long-range financial plans and cost-cutting options.

The Sheriff’s Department bid, which will not be made public until Jan. 27 when it is sent to the City Council for consideration, could include savings of $1.3 million or more for the city if the switch is made, according to officials.

This fall, a city-hired consultant figured the city could save up to $1.3 million from the current annual Police Department budget of $6.3 million in the first year, and $1.76 million in subsequent years by contracting with the Sheriff’s Department.

If the City Council ultimately approves a transfer of police powers, officials said they expect most local officers would be hired by the county, and that the Sheriff’s Department could continue providing most of the same community programs, such as drug- and gang-prevention efforts.

A final vote by the council on the issue could come by Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, Police Department employees are struggling with the daily fear that they might lose their jobs and department.

“It’s a tense time,” Police Chief Michael L. Sorg said. “It’s a difficult time in the whole country, and we’re feeling it.”

Through the meetings next week with the Sheriff’s Department, Sorg said he hopes to answer any questions employees might have, such as what kind of medical conditions might bar employment with the county, or what would happen to saved vacation time.

“We’re just trying to help them understand what’s going on and what the potential differences may be,” Sorg said.

Sorg has also spent most of his time in recent weeks developing a counterproposal to try and save the department.

“We’re looking at everything we possibly can, from personnel to equipment to do the job more economically,” he said.

Once the meetings with the Sheriff’s Department are concluded, officers in the police association will decide what their next course of action will be, Ferguson said. This past summer, off-duty officers and other department employees collected more than 6,000 signatures from residents who want to keep the local force.

“We don’t know how we’re going to respond yet,” Ferguson said. “It’s kind of a waiting game for another week.”