Contract Policing

CPD Chief Paul Cooper

The Goddess of Pomona blog has a discussion today that considers the pros and cons of contracting out Pomona's police services to the LA County Sheriff's Department.

This is a discussion that has come up from time to time here in Claremont, but it usually doesn't get very far because, despite the much greater costs of having it dedicated municipal police department (costs that include things like salaries, pensions, training, equipment, insurance, the cost of old jail facilities, the future costs of a jail facility - easily the largest single city budget item), Claremonters for the most part prefer its CPD to a less personalized Sheriff's Department.

Goddess of Pomona's take is that all-in-all, she'd just as soon keep Pomona's PD for many of the same reasons the majority of Claremonters want to keep the CPD and its Chief Paul Cooper (pictured, above right):

Of all the pros and cons, the one that resonates with me most is the threat to Pomona's small town feel. When people wonder aloud why I live in Pomona, it's not just that I live in a great old house, but what keeps me here is the sense of community. I strongly believe that disbanding the Pomona P.D. would directly affect the quality of my life here in Pomona. I don't want to be another anonymous L.A. County town whose been stripped of most of it's personality. But then again, I don't like to shop at Walmart either.

One big factor that precludes a rational discussion of the issue here in Claremont is the emotional attachment people feel toward their police department. But, if it were possible to remove the emotion and simply look at the costs and benefits, it's possible to conclude that we're far better off contracting out.

One big advantage is that we'd get a more professionalized service. Deputies would have served time in the LA County jails and would have more experience dealing with a wider range of people and crimes than our CPD officers. Also, as Goddess noted, the LASD would be able to provide specialized investigative personnel such as gang intervention or narcotics officers.

It's also possible, for instance, that we could forgo building a new $25 million-plus police station by sharing jail services with other area towns that use LASD - San Dimas, Walnut, potentially Pomona. More importantly, the huge costs of police salaries, pensions, and benefits would be shared with the county, reducing a big chunk of our budget.

And to people worried about Claremont losing its identity by contracting out the police service, the LASD has made an effort to provide individualized local service. The LASD website explains some of the cost benefits of their contract system:

The intergovernmental contract system offers a wide range of services at a reduced cost, allowing each contract city to choose a level of service that best meets the needs of its community. Duplicate costs are avoided because contract cities draw upon the full potential of the Sheriffs Department, sharing support resources and paying only their proportionate "user costs." As a result of this "cost sharing" concept, contract cities can obtain an optimum level of police service for a lesser cost than would be required for them to maintain their own police department. In addition, the contract cities can draw upon the full resources of the largest Sheriffs Department in the world.

The question is, with the economy deteriorating and the City's budget veering more and more sharply toward the red, can we afford not to consider contracting out the single largest municipal expense?