The City of Lathrop believes that it has the money on hand to move forward with establishing its own police force.

In doing so, the city would be able to expand the number of sworn officers in Lathrop by five to 33 and end up spending less money.

If the city’s projections are correct, the initial startup money could end up being reimbursed by the savings from switching from the current contract that the city has with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office – an entity that has provided police protection in Lathrop since the city was incorporated more than 30 years ago.

According to the staff report prepared for the special meeting, the city believes that after $6.46 million in transition costs – which will include hiring costs, officer overlap costs, equipment, and software and hardware necessary for dispatch and records – the city could hire more police officers than are currently listed in the contract while paying roughly $300,000 less every year.

The city’s proposal, if it comes to fruition, would also add more non-sworn personnel.

“A City Police Department will provide the community with more officers, a lower budget, personalized services, and predictable costs,” read the staff report prepared for the item on the special meeting agenda. “The Lathrop Police Department will aim to produce an organization that would appeal to local applicants and seek to recruit from within the community.

“Additional advantages will include promotional opportunities within the department that will help provide longevity within the organization and in turn familiarity with the community.”

Currently the City of Lathrop is paying the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office $9.1 million this year for policing services for 28 sworn officers and are paying more than $350,000 in startup costs for each officer that they do hire.

By taking the plunge and creating its own police force, Lathrop believes that it can hire 33 police officers as well as 13 non-sworn personnel to staff the city’s new state-of-the-art police department for only $8.82 million.

The process of beginning the transfer, if that’s the direction that the Lathrop City Council chooses to go, could begin shortly after the council makes a decision on Monday, but the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is under contract through June of 2022 to provide policing services for Lathrop. That would likely mean that Lathrop deputies will remain on patrol through that time.

The city acknowledged that the startup costs — $3.25 million of which would come from development-collected funds for the purpose of starting a police department, and $3.25 million of which would come from Measure C – are significant but would allow Lathrop to control ongoing costs that have hampered in recent years are were behind the city’s attempt at securing another contractor to provide services for less money.

Because deputies with the sheriff’s office are employees of San Joaquin County, the city must pay into the county’s retirement system which costs them significantly more than with officers who are registered for retirement through the CalPERS system.

While the announcement of the special meeting caught some in the community off guard, the city stressed in its staff report that it doesn’t have any hard feelings towards the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office or the men and women that have worked diligently in protecting Lathrop for more than three decades.

“For 31 years, the SJCSO has implemented a community-based policing model that has very successfully engaged the community and administered programs geared toward reducing crime while meeting the goals of the City Council,” the city wrote in the staff report for council. “The community is grateful to all the hardworking law enforcement men and women that have served Lathrop over the years making the community a safe place to live, work, and raise their families.”

Current San Joaquin County Sheriff Pat Withrow spent a good portion of his career assigned to Lathrop and made the decision when elected to bring another Lathrop veteran – Ryan Biedermann – in as Lathrop’s Police Chief.

Withrow went out of his way as Sheriff-elect to lobby the city against going with a contracted-offer from neighboring Tracy, instead suggesting alternatives like gradually rolling out its own police force by hiring officers that would work alongside deputies from the sheriff’s office until the city was ready to step out onto its own.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.