San Clemente Told Sheriff’s Contract Could Save Millions

This cash-starved city would save $4 million over the first two years if it abolishes its Police Department and contracts for law enforcement with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, according to a report released Friday.

During a press conference called to help respond to speculation about the future of the city’s 65-year-old police agency, city and sheriff’s officials also disclosed that the number of street patrol officers would increase by as much as 75% at night and 35% during the day under the merger proposal.

The 48 sworn police officers now on the force would get pay raises of $10,000 to $14,000 annually should they join the Sheriff’s Department under the merger, officials said. These officers would also keep their seniority--applicable toward benefits and promotion--and continue to patrol San Clemente unless they seek transfers.

Another 27 non-sworn police employees would be placed in jobs similar to those they have now, according to the report, which was done by the Sheriff’s Department. The city requested the report last fall as part of an effort to explore ways to cut costs.

City Council members have said that, should the city approve the merger, “they want the landing to be soft for the officers, and so do we,” Assistant Sheriff Dennis W. LaDucer said.

As for San Clemente residents, LaDucer said, “the only thing that they’re going to notice is: ‘Where did all these police cars come from?’ ”

Officer Andy Ferguson, president of the city’s Police Officers Assn., said Friday that he had not seen the report but that “from what I’ve been told about, the terms sound fair.”

Ferguson added that, “until the City Council votes on it, nothing is over. We still have our work in San Clemente, and we’re going to continue to be professional about everything.”

Council members, who are still studying the proposal, will discuss it during a public hearing next Wednesday. A vote is expected Feb. 17.

Even as officials repeatedly emphasized that nothing will be final until the council votes, the city’s bleak financial picture as painted by Assistant City Manager Paul Gudgeirsson on Friday makes it appear unlikely that the Police Department will be unaffected by it.

Gudgeirsson projects that if San Clemente, which officials predict will end the year $700,000 in the red, does not make drastic cuts, the city will lose an average of $2.5 million a year within the next five years even if the economy recovers.

The state Legislature is also expected to cut San Clemente’s state revenue by $1.5 million to help balance the state budget this year. The city also suffered about $1 million in damage to public property in the recent rainstorms.

Even though the Police Department “is the biggest issue, there are other issues,” City Manager Michael W. Parness said.

City officials are reviewing about a dozen other long-range financial plans and cost-cutting proposals.

Under the terms proposed for the merger, the city would pay the Sheriff’s Department $5.78 million the first year and about the same amount the second. In comparison, it will cost the city $7.78 million to run the Police Department this year.

Much of the cost savings would be accomplished because the Sheriff’s Department already owns its own equipment and facilities and because the costs would be shared by other communities already under contract with the sheriff.

The Sheriff’s Department expects to increase patrol service by having three shifts; the Police Department now has two. Further, sheriff’s officials plan to increase the number of patrol units from the current four to seven or eight during peak hours on the weekends.

The report does not project beyond two years, but officials said that, barring any future wage and benefit raises or staffing increases, savings in years to come would be comparable to those of the first two years.

As the numbers and figures were being disclosed Friday, police Chief Michael Sorg sat quietly taking notes. Afterward, in an understated but emotional tone, Sorg said a city-run police agency gives residents personal touches he does not believe the larger Sheriff’s Department could provide.

“I have to look at why police departments are formed in the first place . . . why cities are incorporated in the first place,” Sorg said. “I oppose the idea of us merging with the Sheriff’s Department, but if it comes to pass, I guess it’s going to have to work.”

Merger: More Officers on Duty

The proposed merger of the San Clemente Police Department into the Orange County Sheriff’s Department would beef up patrols during peak crime hours and reduce the operating costs of law enforcement for the 43,172 residents of this city, officials say.

CURRENT STAFFING

First shift runs 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Second shift from 10 p.m.-10 a.m.

Four patrol officers work each shift.

STAFFING UNDER THE MERGER

Six on duty 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. daily with a seventh deputy working Mondays.

Seven on duty 2:30-11:30 p.m. daily with an eighth deputy working Saturdays.

Three on duty 11 p.m.-7:30 a.m. daily with an additional deputy on Saturdays.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROPOSAL

Patrol staffing will increase 75% during evening hours and 35% during the day.

Operating costs will be about $5.78 million for each of the first two years; savings would be about $2 million a year, based on what the city budgeted for the Police Department this year.

A vote on the proposal is scheduled for Feb. 17.

Source: city of San Clemente; researched by LILY DIZON / Los Angeles Times