Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Call Renewed for Cheaper SANE Program : Law enforcement: Palmdale wants community service officers, rather than deputies, to administer anti-drug courses.

Facing a tight budget year, city officials are turning up the heat on the Sheriff’s Department to cut the cost of its well-known anti-drug program in the schools, hoping to free more money for needed street patrols.

City officials this week renewed their call for the department to replace the sworn deputies in its SANE program, who cost nearly $100,000 a year, with younger, non-sworn community service officers, who cost only $30,000. But sheriff’s officials flatly rejected the demand.

“In this economy where everybody’s cutting back, this does not make any sense whatsoever,” City Administrator Bob Toone said at a public meeting this week. “We’re still sticking with the program as it is,” replied Sheriff’s Capt. Tony Welch.

Officials in Palmdale and other cities, hurting for money, have questioned why costly sheriff’s deputies must be used for the classroom-based program. But Sheriff Sherman Block and his aides insist the authority and image of deputies are essential to influencing youngsters.

Last year, Palmdale was forced to cut one-third of its SANE commitment, eliminating fourth-grade instruction from what typically is a fourth- through sixth-grade program. And this week, Toone suggested the city could drop the sheriff’s program entirely in favor of a city-run civilian replica.

Short for Substance Abuse Narcotics Education, SANE is the Sheriff’s Department version of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. Founded in 1985, SANE operates in 51 school districts and 387 schools in the county, officials said.

Palmdale expects to pay the Sheriff’s Department about $6.7 million this year, including nearly $142,000 to run the SANE program for fifth- and sixth-graders. That buys 1.4 deputies. City officials figure that replacing them with community service officers would save $100,000.

At the same time, council members have asked city officials to explore the costs of restoring SANE to the fourth grade and of adding two extra patrol cars instead of the one planned in the budget. By comparison, an extra single-deputy patrol car around the clock costs the city $248,000.

The debate arises as council members report increasing citizen complaints about slow sheriff’s response times to calls in Palmdale. Welch, commander of the sheriff’s Antelope Valley station, conceded that the department is not meeting its response-time goals in the city.

Welch said his goal for emergency calls is five to 10 minutes, while actual times range from nine to 11 minutes. For lower-priority calls, times are running 17 to 18 minutes despite a 10- to 15-minute goal. Routine calls are averaging nearly 50 minutes despite a 30-minute goal, Welch said.

He blamed the delays on the sheriff’s resources not keeping pace with the city’s population explosion during the late 1980s.

Welch cited calls related to the Antelope Valley Mall--390 during a recent six-month period--drawing deputies from other areas of the city.

However, sheriff’s officials argue that the deputies should run the SANE program to fight drug and alcohol use among young people.

“If you had a serious disease, would you want to go to a first-year intern or a specialist?” asked Sgt. John Harris. Community service officers typically are 18- to 23-year-olds hoping to become deputies.

“There’s some real-life experience in there,” Harris said of SANE deputies. “When they talk to these kids, they’re talking from the heart.”