San Bernardino County voters will decide whether to approve a funding system for law enforcement in unincorporated communities.
The Law Enforcement Staffing and Community Protection Act of 2024, which will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, will make it more difficult for future boards of supervisors to cut the law enforcement budget, according to a statement on the county’s website.
“This is an opportunity for us to communicate to our residents that we see, hear and understand that they would like to have minimum levels of staffing to ensure that we do have community protections,” said Dawn Rowe, board chair, in the statement.
If passed, the board will be required to spend a minimum amount to pay the salary and benefits of patrol officers in unincorporated parts of the county.The minimum amount would be the average of patrol personnel salary and benefits in the three preceding fiscal years.
Board members could suspend the funding formula for no more than one year, and only if at least four members declare a fiscal emergency, according to the statement.