Pact Calling for Deputies to Patrol Compton OKd

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve a four-year contract for the Sheriff’s Department to patrol Compton, one of the county’s most violent cities.

Under the compact, Compton’s 113-member police force will be relieved of duty shortly before midnight Saturday.

Replacing those officers will be 175 sheriff’s personnel, including 24 sergeants and 102 deputies. Of those 102 deputies, 77 will be exclusively dedicated to work within the Compton city limits. The rest will patrol unincorporated county land west and east Compton.

The cost of the new contract through June 30, 2001--the end of the fiscal year--is $9.4 million. Eventually, officials expect the annual tab to be more than $12 million. That is $7 million less than Compton currently budgets for police, city officials say.

“I think residents will be pleased with the level of service we provide,” Jackson said. “Now we have to go out and mend fences with community members.”

The shutdown of the Compton Police Department has been highly controversial. Mayor Omar Bradley and his supporters advocated the change to save money and put more police on the street. But activists have accused Bradley of using the tactic to consolidate his political power. They have demanded that he put the police issue to a citywide vote.

The movement against the change lost some of its steam in recent weeks.