$12.3-Million Police Services Contract OK'd

Contracts to provide police services to 11 cities were approved Tuesday by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, whose purview includes the Sheriff's Department.

Eight of those cities will see their costs rise—as high as 2.71 percent in Villa Park. Laguna Woods, Mission Viejo and Stanton will actually see a drop in the price of their contracts, mostly due to eliminated positions or overtime for special services. 

While the contract for police services in Lake Forest is among those increasing in cost, the city will only pay $72,374—0.59 percent—more than in 2010-11, bringing the cost to $12,331,709.

No new positions are being added to Lake Forest Police Services via the contract with the county. The number of sworn personnel assigned solely to Lake Forest, the full-time equivalent of 53.5 employees, remains the same.

Also included in the contract cost is partial salaries for some OCSD employees who share their services among multiple cities.

Lake Forest pays part of the cost for the full-time equivalent of 14.25 employees, such as a 9.28 percent contribution toward the services of an auto theft investigator.

According to city staffers, Lake Forest deputies were responsible for 886 in-custody arrests, 1,604 misdemeanor citations and 262 warrant arrests in 2010.

That year, there were 1,051 "part one" crimes, serious criminal activity including homicide, rape, robbery and burglaries.

The city has contracted with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for police services since its incorporation in 1991.

Those law enforcement efforts have contributed to Lake Forest's reputation as one of the safest cities in the nation.

At the Tuesday meeting, Supervisor Shawn Nelson suggested other cities consider hiring the Sheriff's Department, citing an unnamed city in his district that was spending $10 million a year for its own police department. Comparably-sized cities in South County have hired the Sheriff's Department to do the job for just $6 million, he said.