City to add two-deputy patrol car

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Wednesday, October 26, 2005.
By BOB WILSON Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Voting unanimously and without debate, the City Council on Monday approved spending $153,000 to add a second two-deputy patrol car to its public safety arsenal. The expenditure will pay for the operation of the car from Dec. 1 through June 30.

The team is to be created by Dec. 1 to conduct "directed enforcement throughout the city," said Anne Ambrose, the city's public safety manager. The team will be the second one assigned to patrol high-crime areas without being pulled away to respond to routine calls for service, Ambrose said.

The first team, activated in September 2004, has been highly effective, making 363 arrests and issuing 119 citations in its first 12 months, she noted in a report prepared for the council. "I think we can see from the activity level of the other car that it has been very effective, and we believe that another car out there performing in the same capacity will continued to impact crime," Ambrose said.

Because it is a two-person team, "If they see something going on or if they are working on their own intelligence, they can proceed without having to wait for backup," she said. "They are very self-sufficient. They go out and sort of shake the trees and go into targeted areas, sometimes working with other teams or divisions who may be looking for specific individuals or looking into certain crimes," Ambrose said. Other deputies may not be able to pursue a specific case until an arrest is made because of their need to respond to new calls, she said.

Reached after the council meeting, Mayor Jim Ledford said he supported the hiring of the team but noted that it will be filled by deputies seeking overtime pay instead of by new personnel. Countywide, the Sheriff's Department is unable to fill about 1,000 positions, more than 20 of which are at the Palmdale station, Ledford said.

That means any additional positions funded by the city actually are jobs being filled by existing deputies working overtime, he said. "We are getting our contract (for officers) filled through overtime, and I'm very, very concerned about that," Ledford said. "Overtime, ultimately, will wear you down," he said.

"These deputies are busting their chops" to keep crime down in Palmdale, the mayor said, noting an overall reduction in the city by 16% since January 2004 despite working in cramped quarters and with limited staffing. "I don't care how you spin it, but a 16% reduction is something we ought to be celebrating," Ledford said.

Comments to the contrary stem from "politics" during this year's City Council campaign, he said. Still, the short-term benefits of using overtime to increase law-enforcement productivity may come with a long-term price of staff burnout, the mayor said.

bwilson@avpress.com