How Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms contract law enforcement with the Sheriff’s Department
There are two agencies that provide law enforcement in the Morongo Basin. The California Highway Patrol, who focus their attention on the state highways that connect the hi-desert, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Operating across the whole of the world’s largest county, deputies act under the direction of County Sheriff Shannon Dicus, an elected official. Our local deputies operate out of the Sheriff’s Morongo Basin Station on Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree.
While the Sheriff’s Department covers all unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County, they also contract with service for incorporated communities. In the Morongo Basin, that means Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. On two recent episodes of the Z107.7 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with the respective mayors and managers of Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms.
Daigneault asked Yucca Valley Mayor Merl Abel about their contract with the Sherrif’s Department. Abel explained the process. “We contract out with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which is an amazing way of being able to stretch our tax dollars.
“A small town like Yucca Valley could not afford all the operations, the SWAT, the aerial, all the things that go into public safety. And having San Bernardino County come in and partner with us for us to contract with them is very expensive, but also much more efficient.”
Daigneault posed the question as to why a small town would want to have an outside agency do their law enforcement. He answered his own question with an historical anecdote, saying “On the very first day that the Sheriff’s Department was providing law enforcement for the City of Twentynine Palms, there was a double murder. So they brought forensics, dogs, detectives, this whole team come in, which a small city could never, ever have afforded on its own.”
Daigneault asked Twentynine Palms City Manager Stone James, “How does that process work. Do they come to you with a proposal?”
“That is exactly how it happens,” said James. “And so we could be a city that could have its own private police department, its own police force, but that’s very expensive. And so I think the city appropriately and prudently has contracted with San Bernardino County Sheriff.”
Twentynine Palms Mayor Daniel Mintz said, “We added a detective a year and a half ago because they told us we were only getting parts of the detective with what we were paying for. They said if you want to clear some more cases a you need to add another detective. And we did, at expense to our City’s budget.”
Stone added, “We routinely take a look at what are the crimes that are happening, where are the crimes happening, and then how we can address them from a law enforcement standpoint. The Sheriff’s Department will then distribute the resources as needed.”
“I have been extremely impressed with the caliber of individuals, whether it be from patrol deputies and, you know, patrol men and women all the way up to the command staff, excellent professionals.”
