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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The City Council approved Tuesday evening $613,000 for the vehicle purchases and adopted an ordinance requiring the city to maintain its own police department. The ordinance is the upshot of a popular revolt spurred by the council's ill-fated September decision to disband the Police Department and bring in the sheriff. "Approval for purchase of the new vehicles is a huge step in the right direction," said interim Chief Frank Scialdone. "By industry standards, many of our cars are simply unsafe, and our maintenance costs have been horrific over the last two years." But it's the ordinance and its implications that promise more enduring effects. And it was steeped in irony Tuesday. The council adopted the ordinance on the heels of a $25,000 study by the Claremont-based Rose Institute on Local Government, the funds for which the council approved in May. The institute's conclusion: The decision to keep the Police Department was an economic gaffe. "By every metric, the proposed contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department would provide a higher level of police service at a lower cost than is currently provided by the Rialto Police Department," the report states. The 84-page Rose report, which some residents at the meeting called a waste of $25,000, also projected a decrease in the cost per patrol hour from $145.14 to $108.05 if the city had succeeded in its plan to contract with the Sheriff's Department. The study's authors cited Rialto's torpid property and sales tax growth as further reasons to cut police costs, and warned that Rialto's revenue base is "highly dependent" on the utility-users tax, which is scheduled to sunset in 2008. But thanks to Tuesday's ordinance, the Police Department will almost surely live on, regardless of financial needs. Councilman Ed Scott, until March a firm proponent of disbanding the department, said the report was worth the cost because it provides a clearer explanation of what keeping the department could entail. "This report clearly spells out the reality of enacting this ordinance to keep the department," Scott said. "It is important that the community knows what the impact will be. We're committed to rebuilding the department, but it's going to cost us." Assistant City Administrator Kirby Warner was more ominous. "It was important to put on file a study by a respected, independent third party, so whatever happens in the future shouldn't be as much of a surprise," Warner said. The ordinance pre-empts a November election, essentially conceding the measure would have passed at the ballot, its inclusion assured by about 5,000 residents' signatures that police supporters gathered in December and January. The measure includes key language prohibiting the city from contracting out police services without voter approval, assuaging any lingering skepticism of how supportive political leaders are of the department. The resolution also specifically states that Rialto shall maintain its own police department. Rialto Police Benefit Association President Andrew Pilcher, a vocal critic of the council's plan to disband the department in favor of the sheriff, said late Tuesday the ordinance was a boon to the Police Department's psychological health. "This is a major step toward our returning to premier organization status," Pilcher said. "It's hugely important for the men and women of the department to be able to do their job without having a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads." By both quantifiable measures and intangibles, the six-month political battle touched off with the council's Sept. 13 vote took a heavy toll on the department. Officers at nearly every command level fled, many to other departments, in a brutal spell of attrition that had Scialdone and Deputy Chief Tim Ousley braced as late as March for a "crisis" if staffing dipped further. With the approval of a two-year labor contract June 5 and Tuesday's ordinance, the bleeding of the ranks has stopped. According to the Rose report, the department is down to 71 patrol officers, only about three-quarters the number for which it is budgeted. Despite anemic staffing, the department performed markedly better through the first four months of 2006 than it did over the same period the year before, according to department crime statistics, a stark improvement rank-and-file officers credit to Scialdone and Ousley's leadership. Violent crime and property crime citywide are both down about 15 percent. Police have shaved 23 seconds off average response time to emergency calls, down to four minutes, 51 seconds. Overtime hours logged by the understaffed personnel has increased 77 percent over last year, however, and Scialdone has said his command staff is always on the lookout for signs of burnout. But while recruiting processes are under way for levels from patrol officer to a new chief, the department's hardware got the upgrade Tuesday. The 100-vehicle fleet has an average model year of 1997 with 27 of the vehicles logging more than 100,000 miles, which is high for police cars because of hard driving and excessive engine-idling times, Scialdone said. The $2.2 million spent on vehicle maintenance costs since 2004 are reflective of the fleet's advanced average age, Scialdone said. The freed money should produce new cars on the street in six to nine months, Scialdone said. Colton OKs police pay raises CONTRACT: The city is working to stay competitive in recruiting new officers. 12:22 AM PDT on Thursday, June 22, 2006 By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA A pay increase for rank-and-file officers was included Tuesday in a labor contract for the Colton Police Department under an amendment approved by the City Council. The three-year agreement will give officers a 3 percent raise effective Jan. 1. Another raise of 1 percent will go into effect April 1, the agreement says. The city and Colton Police Officers Association also will do a survey of police wages in eight surrounding cities in July 2007 to see how they compare to those paid in Colton, the agreement says. At the end of the study, the base salary in each job classification will be increased until it's equal to the average pay in the other departments surveyed. The survey cities include Chino, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino and Upland. The department also has a 5.5 percent salary increase scheduled to begin July 1, Anthony Arroyo, human resources director, said. Officers' annual salaries range from $49,788 to $60,504, Arroyo said. Corporals and detectives are paid from $55,272 to $67,176, while sergeants start at $65,865 and cap out at $80,076, he said. In a March 16 letter to the council, Curtis Bayer, the police association president, asked to reopen the department's contract to remain competitive with other departments and to improve officer retention and recruitment. The council agreed because, members said, the department was having trouble recruiting and maintaining officers. Councilman Richard DeLaRosa said he is glad the increases were approved. "The Police Department is in our schools, parks, stores, businesses and homes and they have proven to be professional and customer-service orientated," DeLaRosa said. "For that reason I think they should have this pay raise. They protect and serve the public as they are expected."
Money for police vehicles approved
RIALTO - Having narrowly survived a bitter, ruinous scrap for its own survival, the Police Department is on the road to revival with approval to purchase 29 new vehicles and a new law shielding it from future efforts at dismantling it in favor of an outside police force.
The Press-Enterprise
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