Faced with the task of developing a financial plan that will stabilize Pacifica’s budget and establish reserves, Pacifica city staff is undertaking an evaluation about outsourcing police services.

A consultant has been engaged to evaluate the pros and cons and expects to report to City Council in July.

“A decision as significant as this one involves far more than the bottom line budget issues. In addition to the short and long term financial issues, the concerned employee and community impacts must also be considered,” the city’s May 14 staff report reads.

Two organizations have made bids to take over police services — South San Francisco and the Sheriff for the County of San Mateo.

As other cities in San Mateo County — San Carlos, Half Moon Bay and Millbrae — have faced similar budget crises, they have chosen to use the sheriff’s office for police services.

Jeff Maltbie, San Carlos City Manager, said his city is in its second year with the sheriff.

San Carlos had received bids from Redwood City and from the sheriff, but the sheriff was able to offer employment to all members of the police force. San Carlos outsourced to the sheriff in Oct. 2010.

“It was a better move for the community. It was definitely a good move for the employees,” he said. “It’s gong very well. The police services transition was flawless. The communication dispatch was done a year later. The sheriff’s department has been engaged in the community. We have a lot of events. They have been great in terms of helping plan them and taking part in them. They are committed to being a part of the community. The officers are in town all the time. Our staffing levels have been stable. The personnel has been high quality. We had heard that costs might have gone up, but it didn’t. We’ve spent less than what our police department has been costing. Because we have saved so much money, City Council has added more police services. We have focused more on traffic enforcement and investigative services. That has been very helpful. You have the ability to add services on a temporary basis. Last fall, we had a couple of close calls at schools. There was concern in the community. We chose to bring in a number of additional deputies just for extra visibility for drivers to pay attention close to the school. We’re renewing for the next fiscal year,” he said.

The city of Half Moon Bay recently renewed its contract with the San Mateo County Sheriff for a second year, as well.

City Manager Laura Sniderman said she expected to save $500,000, but actually saved $800,000 the first year.

“We were able to bring back more services, such as detectives and a school resource officer, and have more things, such as a specialty gang suppression unit, air support and a canine unit. We have access to all these ancilliary services. For a lower cost, we have a higher level of law enforcement. It has worked out very well for the city of Half Moon Bay,” she said.

In Millbrae, Mayor Marge Colapietro said the sheriff has been on board since March and it has been going very well.

“We have an excellent rapport with the sheriff and undersheriff. We are very happy with the chief we have and his leadership. The community seems to be very pleased. They have seen more police on the streets. We get updates regularly. They are very active. They are doing wonderful work. They are making sure people are driving safely. When they get reports of areas that need to be focused on, they are out there in a flash. They kept half our officers here. They have filled the other half with deputies who are new to the Millbrae community. All the public safety goals are kept as the top priority. They have been active in the schools. It was a smooth transition. It’s great news,” she said.

The city of Millbrae expects to save $1 million this first year and expects that to grow to $2 million in subsequent years. Millbrae signed a five-year contract with the sheriff.

“Our biggest priority is the safety of the public and the Millbrae community. We also need to maintain our efficiencies in operation for law enforcement. So far, it looks like it’s on the same track. Great lines of communication are open. We have a school resource officer on a regular basis now. That was not possible before. We were considering consolidating with the city of San Bruno for about a year, but then we found out that the city of San Bruno did not want to go forward. The next opportunity that came along was from the sheriff’s office,” Colapietro said.

In Pacifica, many local law enforcement personnel had spoken out against outsourcing services to the sheriff while discussions ensued at public meetings. They had feared losing local control. They had spoken about their fear of sheriff’s deputies being assigned out of Pacifica on rotations, so consequently never learning the community well enough to conduct long-term investigations. They had spoken about the costs of the sheriff escalating over time. At this time, however, Police Chief Jim Tasa said he is adopting a neutral position on this issue while it is being investigated by the city’s consultant.