Vallejo Considers Consolidating Police And Fire Departments
VALLEJO (KCBS) - With fewer police and firefighters in Vallejo, a city councilwoman has raised the possibility that public safety services be consolidated with other cities or the county.
Options that have come up at public meetings include contracting dispatch to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department and creating a regional fire protection district with neighboring cities, said Councilwoman Marti Brown.
"There's a huge logistical issue to this and how all the moving parts would work," she said, stressing that uncomfortable conversations could not be delayed.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Brown noted the Vallejo Police Department's 90 officers are not enough for the level of service the community expects, and the fire department is struggling too.
"We have to start, I think, rethinking from the foundation up how we're going to continue to provide high quality services to our community," she said.
Brown expects the issue of public safety consolidation to be an important part of the discussion when the council tackles a budget that will include a strategy for emerging from bankruptcy.
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