Jurupa Valley leaders have seen the figures on how much they might save if they stopped hiring Riverside County deputies to patrol the city.

And they want to keep exploring an effort with other cities to form their own police department.

The Jurupa Valley City Council was the latest city to discuss a study looking at law enforcement costs if it and eight other cities were to create their own joint powers agency to police the cities.

“I think it would be foolish not to see this through and see where it takes us,” Mayor Verne Lauritzen said Thursday night, July 6.

Related Articles Riverside County cities could save cash by creating own police force

The cities — which now contract with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for police — commissioned the study more than a year ago because of frustration with rising contract costs.

Together, the cities’ costs could drop by 10 percent — about $14 million a year, according to the Mountain View-based Matrix Consulting Group.

The other participating cities are Moreno Valley, Coachella, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Perris, San Jacinto, Temecula and Wildomar.

The report’s results were first released in April by Moreno Valley, which has led the efforts.

Richard Brady, president of Matrix Consulting, said Perris and Coachella have both received presentations. Temecula leaders are set to discuss it later this month.

Eventually, representatives from the cities hope to meet together to discuss their next step.

City officials say law enforcement cost increases — 5.14 percent for the 2016-17 fiscal year and an estimated 8 to 10 percent for the current one — are more than they can bear.

Sheriff’s and county officials have said that labor agreements approved in recent years are the main drivers of the cost increases. The county recently hired a consulting firm to look at improving efficiency, including at the sheriff’s department.

For Jurupa Valley, costs have risen by $3.5 million over four years with no increase in service, City Manager Gary Thompson said.

“The increases being foisted on all the contract cities contract are unsustainable and it’s got to stop,” he said.

Thompson said efforts by the cities to get the county to address their concerns have so far been unsuccessful.

In May, Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione suggested the cities might be better off with their own police departments and said he would push for cities to “go on their own.”

BREAKING AWAY?

The following cities are interested in ending their contracts with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Together the cities could save $14 million a year a consultant estimates.

Coachella

Jurupa Valley

Lake Elsinore

Menifee

Moreno Valley

Perris

San Jacinto

Temecula

Wildomar