Board to Consider 5-Year Law Enforcement Services Compact with Rancho Mirage

RANCHO MIRAGE (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors today will consider
whether to ratify a five-year law enforcement services agreement, valued at $86
million, between the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the city of
Rancho Mirage.
  

The proposed agreement, which will be reviewed during the board's
policy calendar Tuesday, would task sheriff's personnel with handling all
municipal police functions from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2031.
  

The Rancho Mirage City Council approved the agreement in June. The
sheriff's department has been sole provider of law enforcement services in the
municipality for decades.
  

``The agreement ensures that service will continue uninterrupted,''
according to a report posted to the board's agenda.
  

Under the proposal, sheriff's service rate adjustments would be
allowed no more than once each fiscal year to reflect changes in the county's
cost of providing law enforcement protection. The compact further specifies
that all expenses incurred by sheriff's personnel to provide services would be
covered by the city, with no General Fund or other obligations by the county.
  

Services would include application of all state, county and municipal
laws, including providing traffic enforcement and managing criminal
investigations.
  

To meet the staffing needs of the city, there would be the equivalent
of 16 deputies on the job at all times. Personnel deployments would include a
sheriff's lieutenant, sheriff's watch sergeant, a motor sergeant, three
deputies on motorcycle detail, two deputies assigned to ``problem-oriented
policing and five community service officers.''
  

The county would provide supervision, equipment, communications and
supplies needed to maintain service levels, according to the agreement.
  

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