Passing the Baton : Police Will Reclaim Areas That Deputies Patrolled for 3 Years

At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Long Beach police will reclaim parts of town that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been patrolling since late 1990--ending a tumultuous chapter for the Police Department that came perilously close to being disbanded.

Long Beach officers, eager to show they are capable of protecting the entire city, once again will patrol the north and northeastern parts of town.

But the department, which has deployed officers from one downtown location, will assign officers to two additional facilities by the end of the year to improve services and response time to calls in outlying neighborhoods.

Also, the Police Department will be staffed at its highest level. Even after the 46 deputies are pulled out, the city will have 731 officers, sergeants and other sworn personnel. In addition, they have 10 vacancies and the City Council decided last week to add 50 more officers before the end of the year.

But many residents are skeptical of the department’s ability to fight crime.

“We’re ready to give police a chance to come back and do a great job for us,” said Jerry Shultz, president of the North Long Beach Neighborhood Assn. DeForest Chapter. “But we will be scrutinizing their work. We won’t let it deteriorate to the way it was two years ago.”

In North Long Beach, residents were angered for years by officers’ slowness in responding to calls. Drive-by shootings increased and graffiti crept up walls like ivy, residents said. Patrol cars were rarely seen.

In 1989, Long Beach had the highest increase in crime of any major city in California and officials reported a sharp rise in complaints about the department’s response time, particularly in the northern part of town. Since deputies began patrolling the area, complaints have diminished to a trickle.

Police officials said they realize that residents’ hard feelings against the department may linger.

“They had every right to be upset with the Long Beach Police Department. They didn’t get good service, and we know it,” said Cmdr. Ray Jordan, who heads a newly expanded North Long Beach substation in Scherer Park. “But give us a chance. This time, we’re here to provide good service.”

William Pearl, president of the East Long Beach Homeowners Assn., said he is ready to welcome back the city’s police officers, but he wants them “visible and plentiful.”

Chief William C. Ellis said his force will be both.

By basing officers closer to their patrol areas, officials expect to cut down response time and expand community-based policing. Officers will be assigned to beats for at least a year so they can become acquainted with their areas, Ellis said.

“We can deliver a higher quality of service and be closer to the community,” Ellis said.

The city has been divided into three parts: north, which runs from Wardlow Road to the north city limits; east, which covers the eastside from Cherry Avenue; and south, which runs south of Wardlow Road and Signal Hill and west of Cherry Avenue.

In North Long Beach, the substation in Scherer Park will deploy at least 76 officers. Until its expansion, the substation was staffed by civilians and used only sporadically by officers. Although the officers assigned to the north station will cover a larger area than deputies did, Jordan said he expects coverage to improve.

On the eastside, officials are negotiating to lease a building on Los Coyotes Diagonal, where they expect to deploy at least 125 officers before the end of the year, Ellis said. Officials have not decided where to assign the 50 new officers approved by the City Council last week.

The south division will continue to be patrolled by officers dispatched from the department’s main station on Broadway.

Karen J. Adelseck, president of the North Long Beach Assn. Houghton Chapter, views the changes with skepticism. In 1990, residents in North Long Beach welcomed deputies with punch and cookies. Today, they are not eager to see them go.

When the deputies were hired, the Long Beach Police Department seemed paralyzed by battles between then-Chief Lawrence L. Binkley and the rank and file, which gave their chief a vote of no-confidence.

Officers faced nearly three times as many in-house investigations as in previous years. In 1990, a city report found that Long Beach police claimed injury status nearly three times more often than the statewide police average, and once off work, officers took twice as long to return to the job. In June, 1990, the department was budgeted for 691 officers, but 45 positions were vacant and another 65 officers were either on sick leave or working light duty because of injuries.

To bolster the understaffed department and send a message that it was unhappy with the battles between management and the officers union, the City Council agreed to hire sheriff’s deputies for four years to patrol 20% of the city.

Long Beach became the only city in the state with two law enforcement agencies--a move that further demoralized the force.

Last year, many residents in the areas covered by deputies argued that the Sheriff’s Department should take over all law enforcement in the city. After a series of public hearings and a protracted debate, the City Council decided to stick with its own force and cancel its contract with the Sheriff’s Department a year early.

Although disappointing many in North Long Beach and the eastside, the move was a boost for Chief Ellis, who took over the Police Department last year after City Manager James C. Hankla fired Binkley.

The move to return the entire city to the Long Beach Police Department also received praise from those who feared losing local control of law enforcement.

“We consistently have opposed contracting out city services,” said Marc Coleman, president of the Long Beach Area Citizens Involved. “We feel we have more control over our own department. If any problems develop there, we should take care of them, not get rid of the department.”

Sheriff’s officials have been careful not to criticize the Long Beach police, and emphasize that the two departments have had a good working relationship. Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Slocumb, who heads the Long Beach patrols, would say only that his deputies have been well received by the neighborhoods. “It’s been a great experience,” Slocumb said.

After this week, deputies assigned to Long Beach will be reassigned to other sheriff’s stations.

The Police Department recently sponsored a safety fair in Scherer Park to reintroduce the department to North Long Beach. The fair featured K-9 demonstrations, SWAT team equipment and free hamburgers, but the turnout was low, and many of those visiting the park said they did not care who patrolled the area.

“As long as someone is there to protect us, it doesn’t matter,” said downtown resident Victor Chavarria, as he held his 9-month-old son. “We just want police protection.”

Changing of the Guard

Areas that were previously patroled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and will now be patroled by the Long Beach Police Department beginning July 1.