On Opposite Sides of the Thin Blue Line

Robert K. Tanenbaum, a former New York prosecutor who touts himself as one of Beverly Hills’ staunchest law-and-order council members, has come to an ironic parting of ways with most of his competitors in the City Council race.

He is the only one of eight candidates in the April 12 election who has not enthusiastically proposed hiring more police officers to stem the city’s rising crime, most of it robberies and thefts.

Tanenbaum, who is seeking a third four-year term, instead suggests that the department could be more efficient in its deployment of officers--perhaps even putting lieutenants and captains on the streets instead of behind desks.

In a remark that angered the police union, which has broken from its tradition of endorsing the incumbent, he urged that the city “not add more police desk jockeys in suits.”

Debate over crime has dominated the race for two seats. According to police statistics, crime last year increased 15.4% over 1992. The city recorded 2,825 crimes in 1993, an increase of 377 over the previous year, according to the report by Chief Marvin D. Iannone. Thefts of valuables from vehicles, the largest crime category, posted the biggest jump, rising from 574 to 849 incidents, while residential burglaries declined. Robberies rose from 212 to 281. Violent crime remains low, with one homicide last year and few rapes.

The force this year dropped to 128 officers from its authorized quota of 132 because of recent retirements and a hiring freeze that was only recently lifted, Lt. Joe Lombardi said.

The number of officers, however, is considered by experts to be above average for a city of Beverly Hills’ size and population (31,971 residents in 5.5 square miles), Lombardi said. The city has four officers per 1,000 residents, according to city statistics. In neighboring Santa Monica, the ratio is about 2.25 officers per 1,000 residents.

“We constantly have been told (by consultants) that we have as many police as we need,” Tanenbaum said in a recent interview.

“My concern is . . . we need to make sure we’re maximizing the number of police on the street,” he said.

Tanenbaum and his competitors, however, question how many officers are on patrol. Of the 128 sworn officers, Lombardi said, 81 are assigned to street patrol.

Tanenbaum said the city has commissioned a study to evaluate police deployment, including whether the city has too many ranking officers off street patrol.

Some of Tanenbaum’s remarks about police deployment have drawn criticism from the Beverly Hills Police Officers Assn. as well as candidates.

The police union, in a letter to residents, said it is supporting candidates MeraLee Goldman and Les Bronte, who favor beefing up the force.

Candidates Alan Robert Block, an attorney; Mary Levin Cutler, an investor; Bernie Hecht, a retired business executive; Trisha Roth, a pediatrician; and Herm Shultz, a retired business executive, all support increasing the force to varying degrees. The average annual cost for a new police officer is $75,000, which includes salary and benefits (the city generally hires only experienced officers).

Goldman, a planner, said she would like to see 10 more officers added to the force to beef up residential patrols. She contends a volunteer panel of financial experts from the community could find the money for the officers in the city’s $74-million budget.

Block says he thinks the council should reconsider its practice of contracting for legal services, which cost the city $1.4 million last year, to free up money for more officers.

“The city has to have detectives following up on crimes. Everybody can’t be on the street patrolling,” he said. “We need more than just a better allocation of officers.”

Shultz, who is president of a renters coalition group, said Tanenbaum’s idea of deploying lieutenants and captains won’t work. “It’s like asking Bill Clinton to get out on the street and asking all of his staff to do the same,” Shultz said. “Somebody has to mind the store.”

He and Bronte, a business executive and former Chamber of Commerce president, urged the city to encourage new business to locate in Beverly Hills as a way of bringing in more tax revenue.

Cutler, who is endorsed by the Municipal League of Beverly Hills along with Tanenbaum, contends the city should use the projected $1.2 million in annual revenue from a recently passed increase in the hotel bed tax to hire more officers.

Hecht said he’d like more civilian volunteers trained to handle clerical duties in the Police Department, and changes made in budget priorities to pay for more police.

Roth said the city can always use more police, but residents need to take a more proactive approach in protecting themselves and their homes such as by forming Neighborhood Watch groups.

“We are a victim of our publicity,” Roth said. “We advertise our city as elegant, luxurious and wealthy. It’s like asking a bank robber, ‘Why do you rob banks?’ Because that’s where the money is.”