NCJ Number
157098
Date Published
1995
Length
207 pages
Annotation
This futures study explored the type of law enforcement indemnification model that will be used by Sheriff's departments in California by the year 2004. The issue involves the assessment of fees-for-service that law enforcement agencies are increasingly adopting in order to generate revenue to cover their costs.
Abstract
The panel of experts assembled for the study identified 10 events thought to have the greatest potential impact on the issue at hand; some of these included the sheriff's refusal to assess fees for service, passage of a State law giving private security personnel peace officer status, county bankruptcy, a Supreme Court ruling that public sector fees for service are unconstitutional, and elimination by the county of all but essential emergency services. Next, 10 trends with similar potential for influencing the issue outcome were identified, including legal challenges, economic change, level of public tolerance for paying for police services, electorate attitude toward taxes, and demographic changes. The panel then forecast likely events, and developed strategic management and transition management plans. The preferred strategy chosen by the panel involved establishing a minimum percentage of the overall county's general purpose funds to be dedicated to public safety agencies. 88 notes, 162 references, and 3 appendixes