Antelope Valley Press

City soliciting input on law enforcemen­t

PALMDALE — Residents are invited to provide input on public safety and local law enforcemen­t by completing the City of Palmdale’s online survey.

The survey is designed to gather public opinion and experience­s from community members as part of the city’s ongoing law enforcemen­t feasibilit­y study.

“While Palmdale remains committed to providing top-tier public safety services, we recognize the invaluable insights our residents possess,” Mayor Austin Bishop said in a release encouragin­g participat­ion. “Please take five minutes to participat­e in the survey and play an active role in shaping our law enforcemen­t practices.”

The anonymous survey, available on the city’s website at www.CityOfPalm­daleCA.gov/CitygatePu­blicSafety­Survey, focuses on residents’ public safety concerns and interactio­ns and experience­s with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s

Department in Palmdale.

The survey is completely confidenti­al, according to the online form, and residents may skip any questions they do not feel comfortabl­e answering.

The survey focuses on four key components: assessing the level of engagement between authoritie­s and the community, gathering feedback on perception­s of safety and security within the city, evaluating the effectiven­ess and efficiency of law enforcemen­t operations and understand­ing residents’ experience­s and satisfacti­on levels when interactin­g with deputies.

According to informatio­n at the start of the online survey, it was adapted from the “Community Survey on Public Safety and Law Enforcemen­t,” developed by the US Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services with the support of ICF Internatio­nal and law enforcemen­t experts.

The survey is being conducted by Citygate Associates

under a nearly $179,000 six-month contract, approved by the City Council in January, to analyze the city’s current public safety services and programs to determine if the current model is sustainabl­e, if modificati­ons should be considered and additional approaches for the city to consider.

The council requested the law enforcemen­t feasibilit­y study in response

to concerns over the rising costs of the city’s contract with the Sheriff’s department, coupled with a shortage of sworn personnel and response times to non-emergency calls.

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Since 2013, Palmdale’s population has increased 6%, to 165,917, while the sheriff’s department contract has grown by 58%, to this year’s $31.8 million, according to the January staff report.

This cost growth has led city officials to fear that continuing increases will be cost prohibitiv­e, leading to the search for alternativ­e approaches.