Temporary Contract for Supplemental Police Services for Nighttime Patrol

At the Tuesday, January 26, 2016, City Council meeting, the City Council will review an agreement for the City of Arcadia to temporarily provide police patrol services, seven days a week between the hours of 6:00 pm and 6:00 am beginning Sunday, February 7, 2016. Staffing levels within the Sierra Madre Police Department (SMPD) have reached a level where there are insufficient personnel to provide safe and reliable police services twentyfour hours a day, seven days a week.

Over the course of the last few months, the Sierra Madre Police Department lost nine of its twenty full-time employees, three part-time Community Service Officers, and one part-time Police Officer, and there is the possibility that the Department may lose a few more employees. Employees are resigning for a variety of reasons including retirement, an opportunity to work at higher paying departments, and a perceived lack of job security in light of the scheduled decrease of the Utility Users Tax and the pending revenue measure on the April ballot.

During the term of the temporary contract, Sierra Madre Police Department will continue to staff a dispatcher in the Sierra Madre Police Station during the nighttime hours. This will allow the Dispatcher to greet and assist walk-in lobby traffic, answer routine business calls such as overnight parking permits, and lessen the temporary impact to citizens who call the Police Department. All non-critical reports and calls for service will be handled by SMPD officers during their daytime shift.

The Sierra Madre City Council will review the contract at its regular meeting on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. The Arcadia City Council is scheduled to review the contract at its February 2, 2016 meeting. The temporary supplemental policing services for nighttime patrol are anticipated to begin on Sunday, February 7, 2016 and be in effect until June of 2016.

For additional information, the Sierra Madre staff report is available on the City’s website at http://www.cityofsierramadre.com/