Bridgeport faces steep law enforcement costs

BRIDGEPORT – The increased costs of small-town law enforcement is a major issue facing Bridgeport and other Douglas County municipalities in 2024 that do not have their own departments to enforce non-felony issues that every city experiences.

The challenge became known in 2022 when the Douglas County Board of Commissioners requested county Sheriff Kevin Morris to review his small-town contracts to determine if the county was covering its costs for law enforcement.

The answer Morris came back with was “No.” His review of call records over the previous five years showed an average cost of $900 per response and those split about 50-50 between contract cities and other unincorporated parts of the county.

The upshot of that exchange is new five-year contracts called Law Enforcement Service Agreements (LESA) requiring cities without their own police forces – everyone besides East Wenatchee, it turns out – to pay more for their LESAs this year. 

Estimates of those increases amount to about a 50 percent increase over what cities are paying now and that increase is more than many can afford.

To ease the burden the contract costs are being increased incrementally over multiple years. In the case of Bridgeport, by 2027 that city will be paying 53 percent more for its LESA.

State law requires law enforcement to respond to felony crimes regardless of a LESA, but that leaves everything else from city code violations, noise complaints, speeding, and similar nonviolent offenses unaddressed.

Morris advised Bridgeport in late 2023 with what former mayor Janet Conklin termed a “take-it-or-leave-it” increased LESA. The city postponed a decision pending further study of its options. Bridgeport received a LESA termination notice at its December 2023 meeting. Per the terms of that contract, the agreement ends on June 20 this year.

Bridgeport’s new mayor, Sergio Orozco, said he is exploring options open to the city to find an affordable solution including consultations with other Douglas County city mayors, including Mansfield.

“I attended their last city council meeting (Jan. 8),” said Orozco. “This was on their agenda for later this month,” he added about that town’s LESA.

Meanwhile, Bridgeport’s staff is researching the percentages that accrue to the county from residents’ property taxes to determine how much revenue it provides and if a portion of that might be allocated to its LESA costs.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media