By Susan Motander
For years the small community of Bradbury has been patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a “contract city,” one that contracts with the county for police services. Bradbury recently approached Monrovia about providing this service for them, also on a contractual basis.
According to City Manager Oliver Chi’s report, Monrovia’s staff “spent significant time assessing the service level needs for Bradbury.” As a part of that assessment, they learned that while Monrovia has approximately 450 calls per week for service, Bradbury has only 150 calls for service per year. That means their yearly requirement is less than one-third of Monrovia’s weekly need.
After determining that Monrovia could handle the needs of Bradbury, Monrovia’s Police Chief Jim Hunt and Chi meet with their city council on May 11 to discuss Monrovia’s proposal.
According to that presentation, Monrovia would charge Bradbury $115,000 per year for basic police services, which would include patrol, detectives, and dispatch, along with the services of the Special Enforcement Team, Regional Tactical Team, and Emergency Preparedness, when required.
The proposal also set the cost for additional services, if the Bradbury City Council desired them. These included a Community Services Officer ($27,000 annually for 20 hours per week), Foothill Air Support ($1,000 annually), a full time traffic officer ($140,000 annually), and a part time parking control officer ($35 per hour). The cost for additional Policing Bureau Services has yet to be determined.
The Bradbury City Council asked their staff for additional review and analysis. In addition, they are planning several workshop meetings to look into the issue. Chi reported that Monrovia’s staff would continue to work with Bradbury on the project and that he would keep the community aware of the progress of the proposal.
Asked about the proposal, Chief Hunt said that he was sure Monrovia PD would be able to handle the additional responsibility easily. He even pointed out that the last time there was a serious crime in Bradbury, it was members of the Monrovia Police Department who were the first officers on the scene, based on their proximity to that city.
