SoCal County Voters Approve Measure to Guarantee Funding for Law Enforcement

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies near a crime scene in San Bernardino, Calif. on Dec. 2, 2015. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

A proposal to secure funding for law enforcement and increase pay for some elected officials was approved by more than 61 percent of voters—as of preliminary results Nov. 18—in the Southern California county of San Bernardino.

Measure L requires minimum funding amounts to cover personnel in unincorporated areas and changes salary calculations for elected officials—excluding county supervisors and school superintendents.

The proposition received more than 400,000 votes and leads by about 150,000, as of the latest data from the secretary of state.

Approximately 23,000 ballots are still uncounted and another 13,000 need review for signature verification and other issues.

More than 85,000 voters submitted ballots but chose not to vote on the proposal.

Election results will be certified Dec. 3, and if passed, the law would take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

The proposition intends to prevent future governments from defunding law enforcement to ensure that the sheriff’s department has enough resources to protect the public, and to “provide competitive compensation” for certain elected officers, according to the text of the measure.

Discussions related to law enforcement funding erupted in earnest in 2020 with a “defund the police” movement spurred by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

While some municipalities—including Los Angeles and San Leandro in the Golden State and elsewhere in the country in cities like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle—chose to reallocate funding away from policing, San Bernardino voters are now on the verge of guaranteeing funding with Measure L.

Currently, the county considers the pay in five nearby counties—Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Ventura—to determine fair salaries for elected officials, including sheriff and district attorney, among others.

If the proposal is approved, changes to the county charter will remove Kern County—with the lowest pay of those considered—from the current formula and replace it with Los Angeles County—which pays more than the other four.

An existing salary cap tied to neighboring counties’ averages would also be eliminated.

The change would increase the average pay for some positions, with compensation significantly higher in Los Angeles than in Kern, based on recent examples documented on Transparent California, a database of public salaries.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna earned more than $400,000 in 2023, while Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood was paid about $218,000.

George Gascón, Los Angeles County district attorney, received about $477,000 last year, and Cynthia Zimmer, Kern County district attorney, brought in nearly $203,000.

Shannon Dicus, San Bernardino County sheriff, was paid more than $291,000 in 2023. District Attorney Jason Anderson was paid about $272,000.

The proposition suggests higher pay is needed to recruit and retain qualified individuals, according to a bulletin released by the county.

Measure L requires salary details be posted on the county website, in addition to statistics related to the number of calls for service, incident reports, and budgets for the current and prior two years for policing unincorporated areas.

Prior year averages would be used to determine future minimum staffing budget levels, according to the measure.

The law does not call for tax increases but instead prioritizes budget allocations for law enforcement purposes.

In the event of a fiscal emergency, the measure allows the board of supervisors, on a four-fifths majority vote, to suspend the budget regulations.

Supporters of the proposition argued that guaranteed law enforcement staffing levels will help reduce theft and mitigate retail price inflation driven by theft and insurance cost increases.

“The cost of living continues to increase for all of us. Meanwhile, the people in San Bernardino County are unsafe in their communities, constantly looking over their shoulders due to increased crime from soft-on-crime policies,” proponents stated in arguments filed with the county. “We can’t afford to live like this anymore.”

Supporters include Mark Creffield, president and CEO of the Greater High Desert Chamber of Commerce, and Phil Cothran, president of the Cothran Insurance Agency.

No official opposition was received by the county. Some local newspapers, however, took editorial positions in recent months opposing the proposal.

Some critics suggested elected officials that would receive pay raises, including the sheriff and district attorney, were already sufficiently compensated.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department declined The Epoch Times’ request to speak about preliminary results or potential policy changes.