Coachella adopts budget to create own police department

On Thursday the City of Coachella announced it adopted a budget that would prepare it for creating a police department of its own. The city currently contracts out services from the Riverside County Sheriff Department, and has been doing so since 1998.

"We’re still a relatively smaller city but as we grow out, having our own police departments sooner than later will ultimately allow us to grow an adequate force," Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez said.

The new department would be build from the ground up.

"The upfront cost is anywhere from 10 million and that’s the dollars that we would need to buy cars, guns, and bullet proof vests and equipment," Hernandez said.

It's a large price tag, but on Mayor Hernandez said could benefit the city in the long run. He said the city is looking at the upfront costs, plus an annual recurring budget of about $10 million to fund the new department.

"For the past 5 years the sheriff rates have increased to the tune of 50 percent," Hernandez said.

The city released a budget for its current fiscal year. In it, the department is paying $9.65 million for sheriff department services.

In a statement, the Riverside County Sheriff Department defended its rates:

All contract cities consistently receive a high level of service and resources for a competitive rate without most of the duplicative and overhead costs of operating their own municipal department.  Since Sheriff Bianco took office, contract cities have seen a rate increase of 2.92% in FY 19/20, and 2.19% the previous fiscal year.  Prior to him taking office, the annual rate increases were 2-3 times higher in each of the previous six fiscal years, which ranged between 4.69%-7.46%.  In terms of resources and value, the amount of service that comes with the Sheriff’s Department contract far exceeds what most municipalities can offer or afford.

Although the annual operational cost Coachella is projecting for a new police department is similar to what it is paying now, Mayor Hernandez believes there are upsides to having its own department.

"Our rate of service will grow at a significantly less level, why? Because we’ll be able to control costs. Two-- we’ll be able to have control over any collective bargaining agreements," Hernandez said.

The sheriff department's statement read in part:

Sheriff Chad Bianco encourages the City of Coachella to explore alternative policing methods which will allow them to work within their budget and continue to provide a level of service consistent with the needs of their community.

Hernandez said the city is exploring tax revenue that the city currently generates in excess, to be able to put aside for the agency. He said they are not looking into increasing taxes for residents.

He said another reason to change course to move toward a more community-based approach.

Within the past few weeks, law enforcement all over the nation has been under heightened scrutiny following the death of George Floyd. Moments leading up to his death were caught on camera, as a Minneapolis Police officer was captured kneeing his neck for several minutes. Thousands of people have called for police reform.

Tensions heightened locally on June 11 when Riverside County Supervisor, Manuel Perez, proposed a review of the Riverside County Sheriff Department. Sheriff Chad Bianco attended the meeting, and vehemently opposed the review. He said policies were transparent and could be found online. Instead, Bianco spoke on creating a commission made up of members of the community in order to discuss concerns and inquiries from the public.

"We have residents that are asking, 'hey we’d like to sit down and review policies,' and what we’ve gotten is, 'there’s no need, look on the internet,'" Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the new department would emphasize community involvement and they are expecting to have it within 3 years.

"I think that us moving in this direction allows us to really create a policing approach that is inclusive at the opinions of our residents," said Hernandez.

The Riverside County Sheriff Department also told News Channel 3:

The Sheriff is extremely proud of the service provided to all of our contract cities, particularly Coachella and the surrounding communities.  In recent weeks,  some of their elected officials have advocated for the release of dangerous inmates, the “defunding” of the Sheriff’s Department, and the removal of a gang injunction that has positively impacted quality of life issues in the area and kept residents safe.  Hopefully the decisions being made are truly for fiscal reasons and not personal at the expense of their own residents.