County Sheriff continues law enforcement contracts with Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms
At their meeting on June 23, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a contract extensions for law enforcement services between the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and 14 cities and towns for a total revenue amount of $249,456,769. This includes contracts with the City of Twentynine Palms for $6,220,995 and the Town of Yucca Valley for $7,435,821. These one-year contracts will run through June 30, 2027.
Both local municipalities regularly contract for law enforcement services to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, as do 12 other cities within the County.
On last Friday’s (June 26) episode of the Z107.7 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with Captain Steve Scovel of the Sheriff’s Morongo Basin Station. Daigneault asked Captain Scovel about the way that contracting works, and the services that the Sheriff’s Department provides as part of these contracts.
Daigneault explained that the local governments made the determination that it was actually more financially wise for them to contract for a police department than to have their own. As a result, Captain Scovel serves as the Chief of Police for both Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms.
“Ultimately I answer to San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus. But we have a great working relationship with both town, city manager and both councils. We cooperate very well. Our contract basically provides for a certain amount of sworn staff all the way from me down to deputies to civilian staff, vehicles, computers, you know, pretty much everything you need to run an operation. What they do get outside of that are our departments like homicide, the SWAT elements, the aviation and more. So the Town and the City are never charged for any of that.”
You can hear their full conversation as a podcast below:
