COMPTON — The City Council voted 3-1 last week to allocate nearly $20 million to activities that could lead to re-establishment of the Compton Police Department.

Funding that was initially designated for the senior center in the amount of $11.2 million and $8.7 million for the transit center parking structure has now been diverted in order to make funding available for the city-based police department under the city’s capital improvement plan.

The projects will now be covered by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency under its downtown project financing program. The addition of costly projects such as these may pose a strain on the CRA, which under the state’s newly signed budget will take a financial hit.

“As the mayor of the city of Compton, it’s my job to act in the best interest of the citizens,” said Mayor Eric Perrodin. “I do not believe that the Sheriff’s Department, because of its size is the best law enforcement agency for the citizens of Compton. … There has not been a two-way street. The Sheriff’s Department tends to tell you and dictate to you how things are going to be. They are non-responsive to not only my needs but to the needs of the citizens of Compton.”

The move, however, sent several residents into an uproar causing Compton Sheriff Station volunteer and community activist Robert Ray to threaten Perrodin with a recall effort, which others vowed to join.

“This is not in the best interest of the city,” said Ray, who believes bringing back the CPD would override a previously failed ballot measure, fund the mayor’s personal endeavor and potentially cause chaos as well as place the city in a devastating financial position.

In 2004, Perrodin spent nearly $50,000 to place Measure D, an initiative that would use taxpayer money to revive the CPD, on the ballot. But the measure was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, with 67.8 percent voting against it.

“I didn’t plan on signing the recall but if you plan on trying to do this, Mr. Ray you got me,” said city employee Lynne Boone. “We voted — we didn’t want the police department back in Compton.”

Charles Davis, a former city employee, said “if it’s not illegal, it’s got to be immoral.”

In the amendment, the city would refinance lease revenue bonds to back the endeavor. Revenue bonds are a form of borrowing that require the occupant of the facility for which money is being used to make lease payments. Because they are self-liquidating and do not place a financial burden on the state, according to the State Administrative Manual, Chapter 6800, they may be enacted without voter approval.

Since the CPD would be occupied by the city, the municipality would be responsible for making the lease payments, which would likely come from the general fund.

There is no breakdown in the staff report to determine how exactly the $19.9 million would be spent and what “startup activities” it would finance.

According to Perrodin, however, the decision is not final and the City Council is currently reviewing a feasibility study, called the Report of the Compton Police Services Feasibility Study Group: Phase 1 — a report council members received two weeks ago to determine whether a CPD resurgence is practical.

“I stated several times that if the economics don’t fit with bringing the Compton PD back I would not support it,” Perrodin said.

But resident Lorraine Cervantes disagreed, saying, “We wouldn’t be reallocating this money if we didn’t intend to use it and adding funding to refund the Compton Police Department.”

In May 2008, the council approved a no-bid contract with former Compton Police Chief Joseph Rouzan Jr., in the amount of $984,500, to conduct the study. According to the report, the study group — comprised of the City Council and Rouzan — estimated that the city could re-establish its own police department with 85 police officers within 18 months at a cost of $18 million.

Upon entering its first contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2000, after the CPD was disbanded by the previous City Council, the city paid out a little more than $10.5 million over a 10-month period. Since then, the contract has been raised approximately $1 million each year, ending in a base contract cost of $18.5 million for 2008-09, a nearly 85 percent increase. The latter figure, however, does not include roughly $500,000 the city expects to spend for specialized services, such as deployment for parades and DUI checkpoints. The amount pays for 77 sheriff’s deputies.

“That amounts to eight more peace officers in the Compton community, for $1 million less in annual costs,” said the report. “Additionally, the study group found that Compton could anticipate receiving approximately $1 million in supplementary revenues from fines, forfeitures and grants.”

Currently, the city is still contracting its law enforcement services from the Sheriff’s Department. It signed a one-year contract services agreement June 29 for $16.9 million. The figure, said a sheriff’s spokesperson, changes depending on the city’s economic standing. A physical contract, which would extend services for another five years, is still waiting ratification. The deadline is Aug. 31.

If the contract with the Sheriff’s Department ceases, the city would have to spend further costs on refurbishing the current Compton Station, equipping its officers with “state of the art tools and resources” as well as providing training to new officers, said the report. It would also have to establish emergency communications, which it would likely do by sharing a system with the South Bay Regional Communications Authority, which currently provides police communications for Hawthorne, Gardena and Hermosa Beach.

“While we’re trying to establish the department and train people and let them learn this place, crime will be rampant,” said Cervantes. “This has nothing to do with whether I want the sheriff here [or not], but it’s a practical thing and you have to think about the citizens.”

CPD officers, said the study, would likely be individuals who have been recently laid off by other agencies due to the recession. However, comments made by the mayor suggests that a number of former Compton officers would be reinstated.

Resident William Kemp, who also vowed to sign the recall, is concerned that the former CPD’s reputation — which was preceded by a soaring crime rate and mounds of corruption — could hinder economic development.

“The reason we have developments is because the Sheriff’s Department has lowered the crime rate in Compton that’s why we have an economic boom,” he said. “And businesses are going to run as fast as they can when we make this mistake.”

The study may also be flawed, said a number of residents, since the report was conducted by a former CPD member along with the aid of the City Council and therefore poses a conflict of interest. They too suggested that the findings may be inaccurate in light of this.

The recent report would actually be the second in five years. Prior to the failure of Measure D, the City Council approved a $600,000 contract with outside agency Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates to determine what steps and how much money it would need to re-launch the department.

Eight months after Measure D failed, the 2004 study estimated it would take between $21.6 and $25.9 million to launch a city-based police department that would provide the level of service currently provided by the Sheriff’s Department and noted that inflation over time would cause the amount to fluctuate.

In its last year, the CPD is said to have had 150 sworn officers and 70 civilian employees for a cost of $18.9 million, including expenditures and capital needs. This would imply that the costs associated with bringing back the CPD — in 2009 dollars — would exceed the amount expected to be refinanced through bonds.