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Royal Palm Debates Merging Police With Sheriff's Office

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Joel Hood, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

May 24--Unable to agree on a new contract with its police union, Royal Palm Beach officials are exploring merging its department with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to save money and increase its police capabilities.

The proposal has the approval of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, which is negotiating for the Police Department, and members of the Royal Palm Beach Village Council. But others, such as Royal Palm Beach Mayor David Lodwick, are concerned about putting the county in charge of its residents' safety.

"I have a lot of faith in the sheriff. He's doing an excellent job," Lodwick said. "But I like the idea of the village having its own police department, one that services the direct needs of the community."

The 30,000-resident community of Royal Palm Beach has had its own police department since the village's creation in 1959. As Royal Palm Beach's population has grown during the county's decade-long development boom, crime too has increased. The village had nearly 1,400 reports of burglary and theft in 2004, nearly twice the total from 1998, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The 52 officers in the Royal Palm Beach Police Department have been working without a contract since Oct. 1. The union appeared to be close to an agreement with the city last week before talks broke down.

The union's chief counsel, Gary Lippman, issued a terse news release saying, "Bargaining in good faith took a back seat to the political posturing and shenanigans in Royal Palm Beach, again."

Lodwick said the city has offered raises between 11 percent and 23 percent per officer, as well as other benefits. Lippman said the offer does not address other important issues, such as the starting pay for new officers and what he described as a lackluster pension program and few opportunities for advancement.

Both sides accuse each other of using the Sheriff's Office as a negotiating ploy, and yet, agree it might be best for Royal Palm Beach. In preliminary talks with village officials, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw presented a plan where every Royal Palm Beach officer would be retained as sheriff's deputies with a captain who reports directly to Village Manager David Farber and the council. Royal Palm Beach would acquire the resources of the Sheriff's Office and save close to $1 million a year from its annual law enforcement budget of about $5.5 million. The savings comes from the county picking up the tab for insurance, pensions and other personnel costs, Bradshaw said.

"There's no downside to this," Bradshaw said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office already contracts with four municipalities: Wellington, Lake Park, Pahokee and South Bay. Bradshaw said Royal Palm Beach would be an asset to the department because it is centrally located between other areas under the sheriff's jurisdiction.

Seven years ago, Royal Palm Beach's Fire Department relinquished control to the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue with positive results, Lodwick said. Response times are down and training has improved, he said.

But police, because of their work in the community and because much of law enforcement involves anticipating and investigating crime, is an entirely different type of agency, Lodwick said.

"We need the ability to make decisions at the local level that best serves our residents," Lodwick said.

Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.

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Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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