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Sheriff eyes another city

Belleair Beach is the latest city that must choose whether to keep its Police Department.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published August 16, 2006

BELLEAIR BEACH - If Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats had his way, all law enforcement services in the county would be consolidated under his office's jurisdiction.

When it comes to the question of local vs. regional, Coats points to his agency's training, broad range of service and record of responsiveness, as well as potential cost savings, when saying individual cities should give up control.

Belleair Beach is just the latest in a long line of Pinellas County municipalities to face a choice that often pits the head against the heart: more services often for less money vs. a more familiar, local approach to law enforcement.

"It becomes very political and very emotional," Coats said. "Some folks don't want to lose their police department, while others do."

Coats believes it makes economic and operational sense to consolidate all county law enforcement services. Here are just a few of his reasons why:

- Well-trained, well-paid deputies who provide high quality law enforcement services.

- A nationally recognized traffic safety program.

- Better communication across municipal boundaries during crime investigations.

- A broad range of unique services including an "air force" of two planes and four helicopters.

For more than three decades, community after community has agreed, opting to turn their safety over to the sheriff.

Dunedin, one of the largest cities to switch, has saved some $24-million since it disbanded its police department in 1995.

Today, the Sheriff's Office patrols not only unincorporated areas of the county, but also provides law enforcement for 10 of the county's municipalities: South Pasadena, Madeira Beach, Redington Beach, North Redington Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Seminole, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, and Dunedin. Of these communities, only Seminole never had its own police department.

On the other side of the argument, 11 cities and towns have opted to keep their departments for what they believe is more personalized service. They include the bigger cities like St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park and Largo, but also smaller ones like Gulfport, St. Pete Beach, Tarpon Springs, Belleair, Treasure Island, Indian Shores and Kenneth City.

Of these local police departments, many subcontract with the sheriff for specialized services, particularly involving crime scene forensics and evidence handling.

In January, Treasure Island rejected a proposal from the Sheriff's Office, siding with residents who praised the responsiveness of local police.

Belleair considered switching when the police chief resigned recently under pressure but has yet to ask for a formal proposal from the sheriff. A straw poll of residents is planned to determine support for closing the city's Police Department.

Even the Pinellas County School District, which for years has maintained its own security, is considering hiring the Sheriff's Office to take over protecting school facilities.

In Belleair Beach, the politically charged choice is being forced upon residents by their own department. The police chief and the officers argue that the city can no longer afford to pay high enough salaries to keep qualified officers patrolling their streets.

Current starting salaries of $28,800, now under contract negotiation, are unlikely to rise even close to sheriff deputies' starting pay, which will rise to more than $40,000 in October.

Chief Earnest Armistead and two of the department's six full-time officers have been hired away by the sheriff. The remaining four officers have applied for similar jobs and hope to soon become sheriff's deputies.

If that happens, the city will have to ask either the sheriff or neighboring municipal police departments to provide law enforcement while its Police Department is either reconstituted or formally disbanded.

The latter action would require a townwide referendum, a vote that has happened twice before.

In both elections, city residents overwhelmingly chose to keep their own Police Department.

"It is sometimes difficult to get the message out to the citizens that they are not really losing anything but are gaining," Coats said. "I don't know how this is going to play out in Belleair Beach."

POLICE SERVICES:

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office currently provides 55 distinct law enforcement services (49 on a full-time basis), ranging from homeland security planning to traffic patrols. Only the Sheriff's Office, St. Petersburg and Largo have both national and state accreditation. Belleair Beach, Clearwater and Gulfport are state accredited.

Here is a breakdown showing the number of services offered by the county's 11 municipal police departments, as well as a sampling of services not offered, according to a recent survey conducted by the Sheriff's Office:

Belleair - 6: does not include any investigative or youth services units, or community policing services.

Belleair Beach - 5: does not include marine section or dive team, or community policing services.

Clearwater - 32: does not include marine section or dive team, flight unit, domestic violence unit, automated fingerprinting.

Gulfport - 9: does not include community policing, automated fingerprinting, dive team, or sexual predator, auto theft, or arson units.

Indian Shores - 9: does not include marine section or dive team, investigative operations, or youth services.

Kenneth City - 10: does not include major accident investigation, or sexual predator, economic crimes or youth services units.

Largo - 22: does not include sexual predator or auto theft unit, automated fingerprinting, crime prevention section, or community policing services.

Pinellas Park - 20: does not include domestic violence or arson units, or automated records management.

St. Pete Beach - 9: does not include automated fingerprinting, sexual predator, crime prevention or domestic violence units, SWAT team, dive team, selective traffic enforcement, or community policing.

St. Petersburg - 45: contracts out dive team; does not include flight section or voice stress analysis.

Tarpon Springs - 22: does not include marine section or dive team, selective traffic enforcement, automated fingerprinting, or SWAT team.

Treasure Island - 10: does not include dive or SWAT team, crime prevention or domestic violence units, or community policing services.

Source: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

[Last modified August 15, 2006, 21:26:25]