“The city disbanded its police department at the end of 2009 and began contracting with the Sheriff’s Department for police to save an estimated $800,000 this year.”
I have seen this scenario a number of times in the past. It always starts out great for the city, but usually degenerates into very little LE, and what they get are frequently the dregs of the Sheriff’s office.
Maybe. But at times, the Fresno County Sheriff's Department has taken over the small towns of Parlier, Huron, and Mendota. Huron and Parlier couldn't reinstate their Departments fast enough! And it was because people who broke the law got arrested! Drunks, drug dealers, wife beaters, drunk drivers, etc. And people driving without licenses and expired registrations got their cars towed. The Sheriff's Department didn't send the dregs, they sent officers who would not show favoritism.