Commentary

During the Memorial Day weekend, on the San Clemente Pier, a large group of teenagers attacked and beat two non-uniformed United States Marines who simply requested that the crowd discontinue igniting fireworks. The irony of beating enlisted soldiers on this May weekend is not lost on the residents of Orange County. A video of the melee has gone viral and is an embarrassment to the 3 million Orange Countians who have been impugned by this deplorable act.

It’s early, but something tells me that some form of calamity was expected. San Clemente residents have been asking for more public safety, and on April 18, the City Council formed the Private Security Subcommittee. The goal was “to provide the full body of the City Council information about the use of private security to enhance the existing public safety efforts.” This was pursued as the City Council had “authorized the use of a private security firm for up to three months and up to $100,000 per month on a limited term basis while longer-term solutions are analyzed.”

Two weeks ago, on May 16, the San Clemente City Council voted on Agenda Item 10D, the Private Security Subcommittee Report, that recommended “Allied Universal Services (AUS) as the firm to provide private security for the beach and commercial areas of the community.”

The professionally drafted recommendation was declined by the City Council.

Workers fix the track for the Amtrak coastal railway line in San Clemente, Calif., on April 13, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

San Clemente has had plenty of activity for a small coastal town. Amtrak train service has been interrupted on a number of occasions due to beach erosion, famous Casa Romantica lost a portion of the cliff that it sits on, and a city council member recently resigned.

Most disturbing was the death of a homeless man, Kurt Reinhold, by an Orange County Deputy Sheriff. There were demonstrations at a sensitive time in history, as Reinhold was black. And his family successfully sued and received a judgment of $7.5 million. This is a cost all of Orange County’s residents must bear.

Those serving in first responder positions have entered into an honorable profession. But public safety is not inexpensive. Liability exposure is just one factor. But the high cost of one Orange County Deputy Sheriff is $305,347 per year for salary, benefit pension plan (known as 3% at 50), medical insurance, and other employee benefits. Add to this another $57,512 per year per deputy for equipment and vehicle costs.

Adding four deputies to the contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department would mean a minimum cost of $1,451,436 per year.

Retaining four officers with Allied Universal Services would only cost $696,948 for one year ($58,079 per month). And this included uniforms, vehicles, equipment, and supervision.

Doing the math, it costs $30,238.25 per month for a public sector deputy, but only $14,519.75 per month for a private security officer. San Clemente could hire eight private security officers for the cost of four deputy sheriffs.

I want to commend the city for considering the outsourcing “to enhance the existing public safety efforts in the city.” I could have saved the members of the subcommittee a lot of time and effort. If they had asked me, I would have told them that it just wasn’t going to happen.

Private security firms are the correct answer to assisting police and sheriffs in keeping our cities safer in a less costly fashion. But private security firms have no political clout.

An Orange County Sheriff's Department vehicle is parked at the Saddleback Station in Lake Forest, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Public safety has police officer and firefighter associations, powerful public employee unions, that will vehemently protect their turf. There is no way that the Sheriff’s union, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, will allow a city to supplement the Sheriff’s services. All it takes is one phone call to a city council member by a union representative. “Would you like to hire four more deputies? Or would you like us to fund your opponent in your re-election efforts?”

Spending another three-quarters of a million dollars of tax money is a lot easier than being pummeled with nasty and obfuscatory mail pieces from the public safety unions with very deep pockets.

You will never know that this may have been the real reason for the San Clemente City Council to drop a proposal to retain unarmed security officers to respond to the homeless crisis on its beaches as a way of relieving its contract police force, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, of the mundane tasks of providing social services to those in need.

With the left screaming for the defunding of the police, the San Clemente City Council’s dropping a righteous and appropriate recommendation from its Private Security Subcommittee will be seen as a major missed opportunity. It would have been a more humane solution to address the homeless on a cost-effective basis. And it would also make Orange Countians feel more comfortable about visiting this beautiful coastal city and its amazing pier.