City to Consider Outsourcing Police Department

City council members tonight are expected to decide on the fate of the Millbrae Police Department – whether to maintain it by hiring a full-time chief or outsource services to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. 

Millbrae has been sharing a police chief with San Bruno for the last year and half. But on Aug. 30, Chief Neil Telford announced he would regain working full-time in San Bruno. 

If the city outsourced to the Sheriff’s Department, it would save about $250,000 a year, but reduce its officers from 14 to eight.

The Millbrae police department employed 20 officers in 2001, but in an effort to reduce budget costs, it currently has just 14, according to staff records.

As a result, police officers are working as much as 16-hour days and thus likely to burn out and make mistakes, according to Telford. And the city is paying over $400,000 in overtime costs.

In a report, Telford proposes increasing the police budget about $410,000 a year to a total of $4.66 million, enough to sustain a full-time chief and the necessary costs for a functioning department.

But, the city would likely need to cut employees from other departments to fund the additional salaries.

The city council meets at 7 p.m. tonight in the council chambers at 621 Magnolia Ave.