City Offers Reward, Seeks Money to Hire More Police

One day after a downtown ice cream store owner was slain and her husband shot during an attempted robbery, the City Council on Tuesday began searching the city’s shrinking budget for money to hire five more police officers.

At the same time, the council offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

“I think our sentiments are quite apparent,” Mayor Kathleen Blackburn said. “We, as City Council members representing our community, are extremely distressed and outraged at this senseless occurrence.”

About two dozen residents and business owners stunned by the murder attended the council meeting to make a pitch for more police. Johnny Rockets owner Ron Paradis said before the meeting that the business district needs foot patrols until at least 1 or 2 a.m.

Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr., who kicked off the meeting with a detailed report of the crime, said earlier Tuesday that the city must have more officers if he is to staff the programs residents want. Those programs include foot patrols and the popular all-terrain-vehicle beach patrol that the department launched last summer.

“In my opinion, it’s going to require additional officers or overtime,” Purcell said before Tuesday’s meeting. “We just cannot field the officers.”

Five more officers would cost the city $325,000 per year, he said. One concerned resident suggested to council members Tuesday night that Laguna Beach residents each donate $1 or $5 to pay for additional officers.

Still, Purcell said additional officers likely would not have helped the husband and wife who were shot at the Baskin-Robbins store on Broadway.

Purcell said such crimes are exceptionally rare in Laguna Beach.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen, in 27 years here, a robbery-homicide,” he said.

Still, if Laguna Beach is going to ward off an increase of serious crimes, Purcell said, more police are needed.

Laguna Beach has no known gangs within its boundaries, Purcell said, but gang activity increasingly is filtering into the city.

“We clearly have a gang situation and gang-related crimes we didn’t have a few years back,” he said.

Laguna Beach has 45 sworn police officers and a population of 24,000. During the summer or on weekends, thousands more people flock to the coastal town.

For the past three years, Purcell said, he consistently has had one to three officers off duty due to pregnancy or work-related injuries.

The agenda item, which was scheduled for discussion before Monday night’s shooting, recommended that five police officers be added to the 1995-96 budget and that the city manager find ways to pay for the additional staff. A final decision will be made when the budget is approved.

One option suggested by city officials: using surplus money from the city’s parking fund, which is set aside to create parking in town and buy open space. City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said that totals $2.6 million. However, that money is mired in Orange County’s frozen investment pool.

The city learned this month that it had been awarded a grant from President Clinton’s anti-crime package that would help put one more officer on the beat. However, Republicans in Congress are opposing that in their own crime bill.