Santa Paula Weighs a Contract With Sheriff for Police Services

Santa Paula would be better equipped and have access to more resources to fight gangs and drugs if it contracted with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department for police services, according to a department study released Wednesday.

But the cost of law enforcement services in the cash-strapped city could jump from an extra $306,000 a year to more than $800,000, according to the study commissioned by the Santa Paula City Council. And that does not include one-time start-up costs, which could be another $500,000.

The council undertook the study to find out what it would get for its money and whether it was worth it to abandon its own Police Department in favor of contracting out, officials said.

Sheriff Bob Brooks is scheduled to make a presentation on his report to the council during a special meeting Wednesday.

“It hasn’t been an issue of displeasure with our current officers and police administration,” Councilwoman Mary Ann Krause said. “But we know we need a higher level of service and we know we’re going to have to pay for it.”

An audit of the city’s 31-officer Police Department in January concluded that it was inefficient, outdated and underfunded. “Given its limited resources, the Santa Paula Police Department does a good job providing the community with basic policing services,” the audit found. “However, an inefficient use of the department’s already inadequate resources impairs efforts to deliver truly effective police services.”

As a result of the findings, the City Council last month began exploring a number of taxing proposals, including a parcel tax or a local sales tax, to help pay for increased police services and to offer more competitive salaries to officers. But before placing a tax measure on the November ballot, the council wants to consider all of its options for improving law enforcement services.

Santa Paula Police Chief Bob Gonzales, a 32-year veteran on the force, said Wednesday that a contract with the Sheriff’s Department was not needed, noting that crime fell 33% last year, as both violent and property offenses decreased sharply. He said increasing the department’s $4.3-million annual budget was the best way to retain dedicated employees and maintain a low crime rate.

“Why are we trying to fix something that isn’t broken? If we were the subject of a grand jury investigation or federal lawsuits or if there were police officers running amok, then I would have an obligation to go to the council and tell them we have a problem,” Gonzales said. “But we don’t have any of that. If anything, our crime rate has gone down in the last four years. It’s as good as it was before I was hired.”

But City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said that contracting with the sheriff would mean the city would “get millions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art technology” in computers and radios to help fight crime. Additionally, sheriff’s deputies in Santa Paula would earn 35% more.

“The sheriff takes a different look at how crime is fought,” Bobkiewicz said. “I think they have a zero tolerance on a lot of levels. Which is perhaps not a luxury we’ve always been able to afford.”

Bobkiewicz said a town hall meeting was scheduled May 20 for city leaders and residents to discuss the possibility of contracting with the Sheriff’s Department and the fate of current police employees.

For his part, Sheriff Brooks said that he was not trying to “sell the city on a contract,” but rather fulfilling a request for information about the cost of providing service. “The elected officials and citizens of Santa Paula will need to decide,” he said.

However, a contract with the city does offer some advantages for the county, Brooks said. Santa Paula would pay a portion of dispatchers’ and commanders’ salaries, and deputies who live in Santa Paula could work closer to home, he said.

Based on similar contracts with five other cities, the sheriff said that police officers in Santa Paula could expect to retain their jobs, assuming they qualify under the county’s peace officer standards.

In addition to better-paid officers, a contract with the county would mean similar staffing levels, patrol cars with enhanced radios and mobile data computer systems, which allow reports to be written in the field. The technology also would mean computer access to a justice information system that tracks suspect data.

“The ability to instantaneously tap into the vast resources of the largest law enforcement agency in Ventura County while maintaining a small town atmosphere is without question a great advantage to contracting service,” according to the sheriff’s report.

The sheriff’s contract would also break the city down into beat areas and reporting districts, where statistics on specific crimes would be recorded and cataloged to pinpoint problem areas for more effective enforcement, particularly against gangs.

A county contract also would provide for a specialized gang unit, a computerized gang database and a crime prevention officer whose job would be to establish community policing programs, such as Neighborhood Watch. The Police Department currently has no dedicated crime prevention officer.

The sheriff’s study lays out two proposals: one for minimal law enforcement services, which would include 29 sworn personnel and four civilian employees at a cost of $4.68 million; or enhanced service, which would include 32 sworn personnel and six civilians for $5.2 million. Those figures do not include one-time start-up costs, which would run several hundred thousand dollars.

Whichever course the council chooses, the key question remains how the city is going to pay for any police service improvements it wants to make.

Although supportive of their Police Department, Santa Paula voters in 1998 soundly rejected a utility tax increase to bolster law enforcement services.