Seeing Red in Switch to Green : San Clemente Residents Indignant Over Plan to Drop Police Dept. for Sheriff’s Deputies

Deep in the heart of this Spanish Village by the Sea, feelings of anger and loyalty are running strong as many community residents rally to defend the city’s beleaguered 65-year-old Police Department.

Officials say the deficit-plagued city could save $4 million over two years by disbanding the department and contracting for protection with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. But this is more than a matter of money to the residents who want their officers to stay in blue, not switch to sheriff’s deputy green.

Dozens of people, indignant that such a decision was even discussed, have promised to pack City Council chambers at 7 tonight to voice their support for the San Clemente Police Officers Assn., which also will present a petition signed by 6,000 people against the merger.

“This is a close-knit community,” said Barry Vick, 41, who owns an auto shop and garage. “I just see no reason why we need to get rid of a police department that is doing its job. I want to keep the local tradition.”

Vick feels so strongly that he is among the 25 business owners and dozens of local residents who formed “Supporters of San Clemente Police Department,” a group that is mobilizing political backing to preserve the Police Department.

The group has helped the city’s Police Officers Assn. fight the plan by sending out flyers, setting up a bank fund to pay for advertising against the merger, and bombarding newspapers with critical letters to the editor.

“I don’t think anyone wants to bad-mouth the Sheriff’s Department,” said Vick, “but we’re a small community. We want to stay with a small, local police” department.

Ultimately, the City Council could vote directly on the plan, or instead call a special election and let the voters decide.

The overwhelming sense from the community is that people want to express themselves at the polls.

Like a person fond of an old, well-worn coat, many folks who have lived in this palm-studded seaside city for years are content to have their own police department and they don’t like the idea of changing after all this time.

“We’ve had the Police Department for so long and we’ve been comfortable with them all these years,” said Ardythe Smetona, a San Clemente resident since 1963.

Not only is a tradition at stake, but also residents face another hard choice--whether they’re willing to pay more to keep an expensive Police Department that receives more than 30% of the city’s $20-million annual budget.

Said Smetona: “If the city assesses us money to keep the Police Department, it wouldn’t bother me.”

From the business-laden north section to the residence-dotted south slice of the city’s business thoroughfare, El Camino Real; from the bookstores and boutiques in the Pier Bowl area to the auto garages of industrial De La Estrella, many business owners and residents are standing behind their Police Department.

Although most residents have not seen the hard numbers showing this city is on shaky financial ground, they feel strongly that having a police department symbolizes local control.

And they believe their police answer to them, unlike a monolithic Sheriff’s Department many residents fear would answer to its own boss--a sheriff sitting in another part of the county.

“Long before there was a Laguna Niguel, a Dana Point, a Mission Viejo, there was a San Clemente Police Department,” Smetona said. “That agency is a part of our makeup, a part of the city.”

Foes of the merger insist that dismantling the agency is akin to tearing down the city’s identity.

“Maybe I don’t call on them every day, but I see these officers every day and I like knowing that they belong to the city,” said Phil Tessier, 44, who is a 25-year city resident.

Even if the officers signed on with the Sheriff’s Department as deputies and continued to patrol the city, Tessier said, “it just wouldn’t be the same. We’re talking more than people and faces here. We’re talking something that has been a part of our lives.”

City Council members and other observers believe Police Department defenders appear to outnumber supporters of abolishing the department.

However, in these economic hard times, the fiscal benefits of contracting for service with the Sheriff’s Department can’t help but to grab the attention of local political leaders.

“I would love to see our police force retained if they can cut costs, but based upon what I’ve seen, we need to understand that our budget is in despair and it’s not going to get better,” said former Mayor Karolyn Koester .

She has spent hours on ride-alongs with police officers and sheriff’s deputies, trying to determine for herself the best option for San Clemente. Koester said she found that the deputies’ service was better or the same as the city’s police officers.

“I think it’s a sad day when a city faces the possibility of losing its Police Department,” Koester said. “But what turned out to be a shocking idea yesterday is hard, cold reality today.”

NO REGRETS IN STANTON

The city finds it’s better off using county Sheriff’s Department. B12

Price of Policing Here’s how much the eight cities contracting with the Sheriff’s Department will spend this fiscal year for policing, and staffing they receive for the money. City: Dana Point Population: 31,890 Expenditure: $3,916,000 Services: 1 lieutenant*; 2 full-time and one part-time sergeants*; 18 patrol deputies; 2 community service officers; 2 narcotics officers, and 2 parking officers. City: Laguna Hills Population: 22,666 Expenditure: $2,620,000 Services: 1 lieutenant*; 2 full-time and 1 part-time sergeants; 14 deputies; 1 full-time and 1 part-time investigators; 5 traffic officers and 1 community service officer. City: Laguna Niguel Population: 44,400 Expenditure: $3,431,000 Services: 1 lieutenant; 5 sergeants; 28 patrol deputies; 2 investigators; 5 narcotics officers; 2 community service officers; 1 investigative assistant; 1 parking officer; 2 crossing guards; a part-time commercial equipment operator, and 5 support personnel*. City: Lake Forest Population: 62,655 Expenditure: $3,240,000 Services: 1 lieutenant*; 2 full-time and 1 part-time sergeants; 20 patrol deputies; 2 investigators; 1 investigative assistant; 3 traffic deputies; 1 community service officer; 10 crossing guards; 2 traffic investigative deputies*; 2 investigative aides*, and 1 office assistant*. City: Mission Viejo Population: 72,820 Expenditure: $4,912,433 Services: 1 lieutenant; 6 sergeants (1 shared); 34 deputies; 4 detectives, and 5 special officers for parking and traffic. City: San Juan Capistrano Population: 26,183 Expenditure: $2,209,333 Services: 1 lieutenant*; 1 full-time and 1 half-time sergeants; 9 deputies, and 1 full-time and 1 part-time parking officers. City: Stanton Population: 30,491 Expenditure: $3,588,000 Services: 1 captain; 6 sergeants; 18 patrol deputies; 4 investigators; 2 community service officers; 1 narcotics officer; 4 investigative aides; 1 office supervisor and 5 community service deputies. City: Villa Park Population: 6,299 Expenditure: $497,085 Services: 3 deputies (1 shared), and 1 detective*. *Shared with a nearby city Sources: 1990 census, individual cities and Orange County Sheriff’s Department