Board to consider 5-year law enforcement services compact with Rancho Mirage
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Board of Supervisors will consider whether to ratify a five-year law enforcement services agreement, valued at $86 million, between the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Rancho Mirage.
The proposed agreement, which will be reviewed during the board’s policy calendar Tuesday, would task sheriff’s personnel with handling all municipal police functions from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2031.
The Rancho Mirage City Council approved the agreement in June. The sheriff’s department has been sole provider of law enforcement services in the municipality for decades.
“The agreement ensures that service will continue uninterrupted,” according to a report posted to the board’s agenda.
Under the proposal, sheriff’s service rate adjustments would be allowed no more than once each fiscal year to reflect changes in the county’s cost of providing law enforcement protection. The compact further specifies that all expenses incurred by sheriff’s personnel to provide services would be covered by the city, with no General Fund or other obligations by the county.
Services would include application of all state, county and municipal laws, including providing traffic enforcement and managing criminal investigations.
To meet the staffing needs of the city, there would be the equivalent of 16 deputies on the job at all times. Personnel deployments would include a sheriff’s lieutenant, sheriff’s watch sergeant, a motor sergeant, three deputies on motorcycle detail, two deputies assigned to “problem-oriented policing and five community service officers.”
The county would provide supervision, equipment, communications and supplies needed to maintain service levels, according to the agreement.
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