POLICE OUTSOURCING: Negotiations 90% Complete, Says Half Moon Bay Police Chief

Five weeks after the Half Moon Bay City Council with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office to provide services on April 2, Interim Police Chief Lee Violett reports that negotiations are 90% complete and that he expects the department to be completely transitioned by the end of next month.

“Everything has been going very smoothly,” said county Undersheriff Carlos Bolanos. “It’s a collaboration on an agreement…that would be a more appropriate term,” Bolanos said.

According to Violett, major operational decisions have been made, including the location that the Sheriff’s deputies will work out of and the policing configuration of the city. Labor negotiations between both Half Moon Bay police officers’ unions and San Mateo County have also wrapped up after two weeks of discussion, he said, and will be presented to the Half Moon Bay City Council for their approval at their next meeting on May 17.

“As of today, it is my understanding that the Sheriff will use the existing Half Moon Bay police facility as its Half Moon Bay substation, and the Moss Beach substation will stay open,” Violett said yesterday. “In the first year some long-term decisions will be made as to whether they [the Sheriff’s Office] want to increase presence in Half Moon Bay,” he said.

“We came to that decision based on the city’s request that we maintain a presence in Half Moon Bay,” said Bolanos.

Though the worn condition of the city's police facility will not provide a long-term solution for the Sheriff's Office, Bolanos said that his agency has discussed that with the city. "I think what we’ve discussed is that once we get in there and discuss what the positive and negatives are of that facility, then we’ll work together to identify what the long-term solution will be for the substation. That could include rebuilding there or somewhere else and we’re very open about what the station looks like and its location," Bolanos said.

Two Sheriff’s deputies will be on the streets policing the city at all times, Violett and Bolanos said, with the exception of the period between 11 p.m. or 12 midnight to 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. in the morning, when one Sheriff’s deputy will be on duty and a second deputy patrolling the mid-coast’s unincorporated areas will be on call to assist.

“The response time will be under four minutes,” Violett said of the on-call Sheriff deputy’s distance from Half Moon Bay during the graveyard shift.

Bolanos said that in the case the deputy patrolling the mid-coast area on call for Half Moon Bay is otherwise occupied, three to four other deputies patrolling the North and South Coast would be able to assist. “We can also draw upon our six to 10 other units on the Bay side as well for help,” Bolanos said.

“This is where a truly shared services arrangement can see savings for the city,” Violett said.

The policing arrangement is part of the agreement between Half Moon Bay and the county Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services, one of two agreements Violett said is currently under review by Half Moon Bay City Attorney Tony Condotti and county attorneys. The second agreement concerns the use of the city’s police facility and transfer of personnel and equipment such as cars, guns and communication devices.

“The undersheriff [Bolanos] and I have reviewed these agreements,” Violett said. “The very first drafts of these agreements were reviewed within the first week after direction from the Half Moon Bay City Council [to enter into negotiations],” he said. Violett said that the city and the county have exchanged these documents twice already, and that he expects the next draft to be returned sometime today.

“There’s a lot of unique aspects to Half Moon Bay that need to be addressed, but the operational parts of the transition are fairly easy,” Violett said. "Because the heavy lifting was recently done by San Carlos and the Sheriff’s Office, it’s made our job easier for the county and the Half Moon Bay Police Department in moving along this process,” he said, referring to last fall’s transition process that took place between the county and San Carlos when the Sheriff took over the city's police services.

“It’s the legal part that is more difficult,” Violett said. Violett projects two more meetings between the parties before negotiations are complete. Once the legal aspect has been completed, he said, the Half Moon Bay City Council and San Mateo County Board of Supervisors need to approve the agreement before it can be finalized. “We’re aiming to do this before the end of June,” Violett said.

Violett said that tasks still underway include the transfer of property and equipment, determining which department administrative tasks will be retained on-site in Half Moon Bay and which will transfer over to the Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Redwood City, determining which Half Moon Bay police officers will remain serving the city, and which Sheriff’s deputies will transition to what will become the Half Moon Bay substation.

The Sheriff’s Office has been meeting with the Half Moon Bay police department to audit the city’s equipment prior to transfer, Violett said. Computer equipment is being assessed to determine if upgrades are needed, for example. A third-party audit of the department’s property evidence room has been scheduled to confirm that the items on hand compare to the inventory on file. “This will take several days,” Violett said.

And today, front office staff at the police department have been meeting with the Sheriff’s Office to orient them with their system of operations, along with the tasks they are responsible for. “Some of the work here won’t go away, and some will be centralized in Redwood City [with the Sheriff's Office], such as our records,” Violett said.

“Possibly one of the front office staff will stay here to retain local knowledge and be the point of contact for our permits,” he said.

“We’re still trying to fine tune some of the assignments – for example, who will handle permits for massage establishments, taxicab permits and tow trucks,” Violett added.

The two agencies have just started the process of determining personnel assignments, including which city police officers and which sheriff’s deputies will be working in Half Moon Bay. Bolanos confirmed today that all Half Moon Bay police department employees will be absorbed by the Sheriff’s Office.

“The Sheriff has already started background procedures on our 15 employees -  psychological and medical background investigations. I would say they’re probably a third to a half through that,” Violett said.

Violett said that while the city’s police department is currently soliciting applications of interest from current officers to fill the three to four patrol positions that will be available in Half Moon Bay, the Sheriff’s Office is going through their own process to determine which of their deputies will be selected to work in the city.

“Half of the personnel working in Half Moon Bay will be made up of current officers, and half will come from the Sheriff’s Office,” Bolanos said. “We’re looking for a blended approach, and will choose deputies who have exhibited a community-oriented policing philosophy,” he said.

Interviews to select the final configuration of officers patrolling Half Moon Bay will be conducted by both agencies.

Violett said that the cost of transitioning the department’s employees to the Sheriff’s Office will be “substantial.”

“It’s going to be in six figures,” he said, noting that the costs include uniforms, vacation and sick leave payouts, pension liabilities, and severance packages if for some reason an employee does not get hired by the county.

The city will not realize savings from its PERS public employees pension costs in the two years after police department employees transition to county employment, Violett said.

“Next year, our PERS costs will go up close to $600,000,” Violett said, comparing the figure to the $460,000 in costs he cited for this year. “That figure remains the same regardless if we remain a solvent police department or not. The liability will be there for 20 years, but there will be a significant drop-off in costs somewhere between two to three years,” he said, estimating a 50 percent decrease in costs three years from the time of transition.

Representatives from the Half Moon Bay police department unions could not be reached for comment on this story.