”
Red Phone, now that the crime rate in Morgan Hill has increased
significantly over the last year, I have to wonder what ever became
of the idea to replace the Morgan Hill Police Department with the
Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department?
”
“Red Phone, now that the crime rate in Morgan Hill has increased significantly over the last year, I have to wonder what ever became of the idea to replace the Morgan Hill Police Department with the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department? If the small town police department can no longer do the job to protect the citizens, maybe a larger law enforcement with more resources at its disposal can do a better job.”
& Red Phone: Dear Keep Us Safe, in late April of 2010, the Morgan Hill City Council voted to begin the process of requesting proposals for police services. The request includes not only the sheriff’s office, but also the cities of Gilroy and San Jose, and City Manager Ed Tewes sent each jurisdiction a letter last year, notifying them that the city may ask for a proposal.
But the very first step in the 10-step process to obtain a proposal for police consolidation is a renegotiation of the city’s contract with the Police Officers Association – the labor union that represents 32 sworn officers in Morgan Hill – to formalize the union’s permission for the city to seek options and enter into a contract with another law enforcement agency.
The association indicated it is not interested in opening up its existing contract, Tewes said. The current contract for employment, wages, benefits and working conditions does not expire until 2013, and there’s no word yet on whether or not the POA will be open to consolidating with another department at that time.
If the city and POA agree to a contract that allows the city to hire another agency for police coverage, the rest of the transition would take at least 240 days, city staff said last year.
The next steps would include hiring a consultant to prepare a request for proposals and negotiating a contract with the winning bidder.
There you have it, good caller. It doesn’t appear that anything will happen soon on that front. But stay tuned, you never know.
