Police Union Protests City’s Cost-Conscious Plans

The police union will campaign against a move by the city to reassign some officers and detectives from their regular and special duties this summer and place them on patrol to curb overtime spending.

“You’re taking essential police personnel from very important positions--who do specific tasks--to aid patrol,” said Richard Wright, president of the Huntington Beach Police Officers’ Assn.

To create awareness about the impact of reassigning officers and of budget cutbacks, the union will advertise in two community newspapers this week.

“What we want to do is make the public aware of the ramification of these particular cuts and further cuts planned in the future,” Wright said.

A union letter to be placed in the newspapers charges that the redeployment will “have an immediate effect on your personal safety and that of your children in this community.”

Officers and detectives will be reassigned to patrol from June 15 to Sept. 7 to avoid nearly $900,000 in overtime spending. That means fewer officers at the beach and downtown and the elimination of drunk-driving enforcement and downtown checkpoints for sobriety, curfew and cruising violations.

Officers normally assigned to gang violence also will be placed on patrol.

Councilman Dave Garofalo agreed that the reassignments will have an impact on public safety. “There’s no doubt that the job of public safety will be diminished in Huntington Beach,” he said.

Deputy City Administrator Richard Barnard said redeploying officers is a temporary move that will save taxpayers’ money and won’t affect public safety.

“It’s a money issue that has to be addressed and it’s not in any way going to jeopardize the safety of the public,” Barnard said.