Police Services Feasibility Study - City of Santa Paula

In the event of a merger, it is recommended that every effort be made to purge
items that no longer hold any evidentiary value prior to a transfer of property to
the Ventura Property Room. All high-risk items (i.e., jewelry, currency, narcotics,
and firearms) will be identified, transferred to Ventura, bar-coded and entered
into the Sheriff’s PRIMS computer system.
To the extent that Department personnel are able to understand and quickly
acclimate to SPPD’s property room, it is possible that a full accounting of SPPD’s
property inventory can be completed in nine months 17 . If SPPD staff were able to
provide all reports associated with their evidence and property, this would
significantly assist Sheriff’s Department personnel. The gathering of reports and
records is something SPPD’s staff could begin immediately if a merger occurs.
In the event of a merger, the Sheriff’s Department property room is not currently
staffed with an adequate number of property room technicians needed to
complete the aforementioned task. Therefore, the cost of two (2) SST IIs need to
be included in the first-year start up costs. Although the proposal calls for two (2)
SST II employees for one (1) year, the City will only be billed for the actual time it
takes the SSTs to complete the property room merger. Contained in the Startup
Costs section of this proposal are the one-time costs associated with the property
room merger (p. 50).
Personnel Issues
The Arroyo study recommended a raise in SPPD police salaries so that salaries
were more comparable to those of other cities (p. 24). A contract with the
Sheriff’s Department could increase police salaries up to 35 percent 18 , while the
City’s police services budget would only realize an estimated 14 percent to 22
percent increase depending upon the service level selected. 19
Internal Affairs / Complaint Procedure
The Arroyo study also recommended a written policy outlining the procedures for
internal affairs investigations and the imposition of appropriate discipline when
necessary (p.26). The Sheriff’s Department’s Internal Investigation manual can
be found on the Sheriff’s Intranet site, making it available to all Department
employees for their use and/or review. In addition, the Department has a
General Order entitled ‘Complaint Procedure, Public/Internal’ (03-11-26-06),
which outlines the procedure for all employees to follow when they handle a
public or internal complaint.
34