La Palma May Share Police With Artesia

In the first step toward an unusual pact across county lines, the City Council voted this week to hire a consultant to study the possibility of having the La Palma Police Department serve Artesia.

La Palma and Artesia will equally divide the $20,000 total cost of the study, La Palma City Manager Daniel E. Keen said. The study will probably take about three months, he said.

Artesia, now served by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, inquired about the possibility of contracting with neighboring La Palma for police service.

“It’s a very favorable development [for La Palma] to be considered by the city of Artesia,” Keen told the council.

Council members agreed, noting that La Palma might turn a profit from the police-service contract. “We’re very blessed to have something to sell,” Councilman Wally Linn said.

Artesia’s interest in the La Palma Police Department is “more than just an ego trip,” Linn said. “It’s a good business project.”

In an interview after Tuesday night’s council meeting, Keen said that if the consultant’s study is favorable, planning would begin right away for forming a joint police department with Artesia. The merger would not likely be completed before next summer, he said.