It's not the first time two cities are coming together, to share services on the Central Coast. We're finding out how the change could affect public safety in both cities. On Thursday, we sat down with Seaside and Pacific Grove Police Chief Vicki Myers who assured us, the only way officers will travel between either city, is if it's mutually beneficial.
"This is not about taking from one city to satisfy the needs of another. This is not about you have to give me this because of this and that means your're short," said Chief Vicki Myers.
Chief Myers said Seaside and Pacific Grove are looking at expanding an agreement they started about a year ago to share law enforcement officers.
"Because PG was short personnel, when Seaside had personnel that they were looking at laying off, but because of budget constraints, we had to reduce our budget, PG contracted with the city of Seaside for those law enforcement officers to go work in the city," said Chief Myers.
Chief Myers said taking that step saved both departments a lot of money in overtime and training. Right now Seaside has 39 officers, with one vacancy and PG has 22 positions with two openings.
At a time when resources are already stretched thin, some are wondering if sharing more services is the right step. It's been about a week since a gang-related shooting at the University Plaza Shopping center in Seaside. Some people who work in the shopping center said they've seen an uptick in crime over the past few months and they're not so sure it's a good idea to open the door to sharing more police services with Pacific Grove. Some who wouldn't talk on camera said they're opposed to the idea, while others are indifferent.
"Well I don't know really what to think about that. I mean as long as we have enough guys out in the field here at night to protect and serve," said restaurant worker Troy Mishey.
But Chief Myers said expanding a shared services agreement doesn't mean public safety will be jeopardized. They'll only swap officers, services or equipment if it's good for both places.
"They're still two separate entities, just looking at the elimination of duplication and more effective services, how can we enhance it and be more fiscally responsible," said Chief Myers.
PG has a similar agreement already with the city of Carmel. On Wednesday night, PG gave it's city manager the green light to start talking with area police officials about the expanded shared agreement. Seaside plans to talk about it later this month.
Seaside and PG aren't the only agencies to share resources locally. Perhaps the clearest example, are two cities in South Monterey County. Soledad and Greenfield share officers and a police chief, but have separate departments. Plus, Monterey and Pacific Grove combined fire departments a couple years back. The Monterey County Sheriff's Department and Salinas Police, also share resources if needed.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Marissa Pendergrass
Quelle/Source: KIONrightnow, 04.01.2013
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