Lancaster sues LASD over contract costs

City aware of lawsuit, evaluating Santa Clarita’s relationship to Sheriff’s Department

The city of Santa Clarita had little to say Monday in response to a class-action lawsuit over allegations the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has been overbilling contract cities for its services.

Mayor Cameron Smyth acknowledged the suit, which was filed April 3, in a text Monday.

“The city is certainly aware of the lawsuit filed by the city of Lancaster and we are currently evaluating it as it relates to our contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”

City Manager Ken Striplin was not available Monday to answer questions about when the city had learned of the lawsuit or when he planned to discuss the action with the Santa Clarita City Council, according to Carrie Lujan, city of Santa Clarita spokeswoman.

Scott Sims, attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed the case number but declined to comment Monday.

An 11-page complaint filed by the city of Lancaster, which, like the city of Santa Clarita, contracts with LASD for most of its law enforcement services, alleges the department’s shortages in manpower are the problem.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said Monday he absolutely supports the job that sheriff’s deputies do, and that while the “Cancel the Contract” movement might have started in the Antelope Valley, he campaigned against such a movement and recently won reelection doing so.

However, he wants to make sure his city is paying its fair share for the services covered in its contract.

“Let me make this crystal clear: Our deputies are our community’s guardians,” Parris wrote in an emailed statement. “It pains us to see them pushed to their limits, short-staffed, and scheduled to work overtime, compromising their ability to protect and serve. We will always support our local Sheriff’s Department and ensure our deputies have what they need by having a full staff to keep our streets safe.”

However, he said in a phone conversation Monday that the discrepancies have been going on for 16 years, estimating the total for his city alone at close to $10 million over that time. A 1983 law mandates a county can only charge a contract city “costs which are incurred in providing the services so contracted.”

He said he didn’t even know if the LASD was aware of the discrepancy, and that it was likely a county issue, in calling for better financial accountability countywide.

“Well, that’s the immediate goal,” he said in terms of getting the overcharged amount returned to the city of Lancaster. “What I’m hoping the county will do is recognize that it’s not in their best interest to continue to underfund the Sheriff’s Department.”

He estimated his city receives about 6 cents on the dollar for services that it sends to the county, adding if the money stayed locally, Lancaster wouldn’t have a crime problem or an issue with homelessness.

“I mean, if I had the money the county stole, this place would be a utopia,” Parris said.

A spokeswoman for 5th District L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, said her office was declining to comment on the matter because it’s a part of pending litigation.

A look at the contract

“For fiscal years 20192020 through 2023-2024, Lancaster contracted for 42.6 56-Hour Deputy Sheriff Service Units, among other things. Per the Service Level Authorization form, the ‘Personnel Required’ was 69.523 deputy sheriffs,” according to the complaint.

However, over the past five years, the county only employed approximately 51 deputies to serve Lancaster, which is 26% fewer.

City of Lancaster officials did what Parris referred to as a “deep dive” on the numbers and learned of the difference in cost to the department in employing 69 deputies, versus having 51, which the city has had since at least 2019.

In 2019-20, the cost differential was expected to be close to $1 million for that year of the contract, with 18 fewer deputies than promised.

While city of Santa Clarita officials said they are still mulling participation in the class action suit, the city would benefit as a class member unless it decides to opt out of the lawsuit.

In previous conversations on the status of the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station and its morale, Capt. Justin Diez has indicated the station’s personnel shortage causes morale problems and practical coverage challenges.

Recently, Diez announced a popular youth drug-intervention team was disbanded because he just didn’t have the additional manpower to fill the positions on patrol.

Department-wide, LASD is down about 1,200 sworn deputies, which prompted L.A. County to hire a public relations firm in June to help with recruitment.

During a city of Santa Clarita Public Safety Committee meeting on Feb. 28, Diez said department-wide staffing is at 75%, and station-wide that figure is closer to 65%.

The station has been “drafting” for mandatory overtime to fill those hours for as long he can remember, he said.

There are approximately 40 members of the class, which would be cities, like Santa Clarita, that pay the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services.

The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

There’s been no future hearing set in the case as of this story’s publication.