Temecula Discusses Future Of City's Policing

TEMECULA, CA — The idea of Temecula having its own police force was again on the table during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Council Member James "Stew" Stewart has argued the city needs to procure a site for a new police headquarters that could be built out in the future, "as an insurance policy," if at some point the city decides to form its own law enforcement agency like nearby cities Murrieta, Menifee and Hemet have done.

"I'm not here saying we've got to do this [form a police force], but I think we need to take a deeper dive," Stewart said.

In a 5-0 vote, council members decided to have Folsom-based Citygate Associates and city staff come up with a plan outlining Temecula's policing needs and identifying sites where a possible headquarters could be located. Council members will decide at a future meeting whether to award a contract to Citygate for the complex work such a plan would entail.

Stewart advocated for a law enforcement headquarters closer to Temecula's metro area — regardless of whether a city force or sheriff's deputies occupy it. The city has always contracted with the sheriff's department for police services.

But Mayor Pro-Tem Matt Rahn questioned the public safety benefits to residents. Beyond costs, city staff findings and feedback from Southwest Sheriff's Station Captain Zachary Hall indicate call response times would not significantly improve just because of a new building. Deputies are assigned to beats that they mostly stay in during their shifts.

"It isn't going to dramatically change response times," Hall said.

The average response time for a priority #1 call in Temecula is 6:12 minutes, according to a city staff report.

As for cost savings to the city, having its own force "is not necessarily less expensive," Citygate's Stewart Gary told council members.

Very few cities successfully form their own police departments, and many that do continue to contract for services that they're not equipped to handle, Gary explained.

The Citygate official said he was not advocating that Temecula go one way or the other on forming its own force, but he did say the city was nearing a population threshold that makes a city-operated law enforcement agency more viable.

Temecula Mayor Maryann Edwards said the city has an excellent relationship with the Southwest Sheriff's Station. She argued that "local control" works in Temecula, although both she and Rahn acknowledged that state and federal policies are increasingly dictating how police departments operate.

If the city makes a policing investment, Rahn said Temecula should first address challenges facing deputies — like calls about the mentally ill who pose a threat to the public and themselves.

"What do [deputies] need?" Rahn asked.

That question and others are expected to get answered in the coming weeks.