Public Safety in our cities - different approaches to address different needs
Michael Morris from The Village
I've read the posts on Nextdoor regarding incidents of theft, vandalism, and other illegal activities with growing concern. Generally I feel that Chief Farinella and her officers do a fine job in keeping us safe and are very responsive to emerging community concerns and dealing with the huge influx of tourists that create big challenges for all of us.
With that said, I am quite shocked to learn that on a per capita basis, residents of Laguna Beach pay more for our public-safety services than any other city in Orange County. Understanding that the 'resident' figures are distorted by the large number of visitors our city receives, the figures are still quite stunning. When compared with other OC beach cities, the numbers fall roughly like this (figures from a report by the Assoc. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs; www.aocds.org):
City Per Capita Costs (not certain whether the figures include loaded costs for pensions)
Laguna Beach $657.00
Newport Beach $536.00
Huntington Beach $348.00
Dana Point $308.00
Seal Beach $248.00
The AOCDS is an advocacy organization, and their figures support the OCSheriff's Dept. selling of outsourcing services (the lowest per capita costs are found in cities that outsource their law enforcement to the OCSD); but the differences seem to be dramatic. Additionally, I'm unaware of any significant differences in crime-levels experienced by the OCSheriff Dept cities, vs. cities like LB which have their own Police Department (perhaps someone can educate me on this).
Is anyone aware of the CCouncil's having explored the possibility of outsourcing our law enforcement needs to the OC Sheriff Dept, and what caused them to opt to stay with the in-house approach? Every time I read about the Council approving an increase in staffing for the LBPD I'm quite concerned given the enormous costs that each new-hire entails.
-Mike
With that said, I am quite shocked to learn that on a per capita basis, residents of Laguna Beach pay more for our public-safety services than any other city in Orange County. Understanding that the 'resident' figures are distorted by the large number of visitors our city receives, the figures are still quite stunning. When compared with other OC beach cities, the numbers fall roughly like this (figures from a report by the Assoc. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs; www.aocds.org):
City Per Capita Costs (not certain whether the figures include loaded costs for pensions)
Laguna Beach $657.00
Newport Beach $536.00
Huntington Beach $348.00
Dana Point $308.00
Seal Beach $248.00
The AOCDS is an advocacy organization, and their figures support the OCSheriff's Dept. selling of outsourcing services (the lowest per capita costs are found in cities that outsource their law enforcement to the OCSD); but the differences seem to be dramatic. Additionally, I'm unaware of any significant differences in crime-levels experienced by the OCSheriff Dept cities, vs. cities like LB which have their own Police Department (perhaps someone can educate me on this).
Is anyone aware of the CCouncil's having explored the possibility of outsourcing our law enforcement needs to the OC Sheriff Dept, and what caused them to opt to stay with the in-house approach? Every time I read about the Council approving an increase in staffing for the LBPD I'm quite concerned given the enormous costs that each new-hire entails.
-Mike
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