Cut CHP budget and divert to local police? (Los Angeles, San Diego: real estate, vehicle registration)

[WesternPilgrim]

Here's MOD CUT a petition to cut the budget for the California Highway Patrol and divert the funds to local law enforcement.

I like the idea.

I've been wondering about the CHP for the last few years anyway. What essential function do they perform that cannot be performed by local law enforcement? Seems like the very picture of redundancy.

[Fargobound]

The problem goes a lot deeper than any one law enforcement agencies budget. In Shasta County they can’t even keep the tweakers in jail because of the budget situation. Until California declares open season on tweakers, I suggest buying personal protection.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by WesternPilgrim

Here's MOD CUT a petition to cut the budget for the California Highway Patrol and divert the funds to local law enforcement.

I like the idea.

I've been wondering about the CHP for the last few years anyway. What essential function do they perform that cannot be performed by local law enforcement? Seems like the very picture of redundancy.

They patrol interstates, state highways, U.S. Routes and county roads in unincorporated areas. They provide security for state buildings and facilities, investigate vehicle theft and provide back-up to local law enforcement.

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

They patrol interstates, state highways, U.S. Routes and county roads in unincorporated areas. They provide security for state buildings and facilities, investigate vehicle theft and provide back-up to local law enforcement.

Correct. They also spearhead a ton of multi-agency task forces (quite well, actually), which local agencies cannot do. Your view of them pulling people over on the highway is just the tip of the iceberg. CHP is our State Police.

[cb73]

To expand on the last post, they also investigate auto crimes that cover more than one city or more than one county, which seems to be the new norm right now. They work on identifying used cars that are being sold without air bags (after they were deployed in a previous accident), salvage cars that are brought into California to be sold as clean. They're prominant on all the auto theft task forces and they are the last word on identifying a vehicle and determining if it is street legal. (A picture of a car that ran on jet fuel and emitted a 20-foot flame when taking off from a red light comes to mind.)

[Curmudgeon]

They also test, inspect and certify service and commercial vehicles such as school busses, ambulances, semis and more. And let's not forget their personal security duties for the Governor and other notables.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Interesting
The CHP/California State Police Merger

[Gentoo]

I agree with the above posts. All law enforcement agencies overlap to some degree. This is a good thing. However each still serves a function unique to it. The CHP is especially unique. As mentioned above they deal with crimes crossing county lines. Ever wonder how a crime committed in LA is solved in Sacramento? The CHP plays a huge role in the two local agencies communicating with one another. The roles of different law enforcement agencies are easier to see in places like San Diego and Oakland where there's at least a half dozen or so in each city because they're county seats.

Basically if the CHP's budget is given to local law enforcement, at some point the local agencies would need to start filling in the holes left open which they're ill equipped to do.

[Phil306]

What everyone else has already written is true. One more issue to think about:

Local police are already taxed to the breaking point. Just about every agency in the state has been cutting back on sworn and non-sworn employee's. Bare bone minimums are what most are going out with now. Most local agencies don't respond to a lot of crimes anymore, because they just don't have the resources to do it.

Heaping more work on the local agencies aren't going to make anything better. Only worse. The extra money provided won't be enough to hire, train, and get the additional resources available.

One more thing: Modern law enforcement is expensive. I do not argue that. At the sometime, they are very expensive insurance policies. CHP is a LARGE insurance policy. When there is any large civil unrest, CHP can mount ALOT of resources, very quickly. Its happened numerous times in recent times. Oakland, East Palo Alto, Los Angeles, etc.

By the way, who is going to investigate all the billions of dollars in fraud, regarding drivers licenses, vehicle registrations, etc?

[Curmudgeon]

Not to mention all the training time and expense that would be needed to bring local departments up to necessary expertise on the Vehicle Code which is huge.

There's a reason for specialization - street, vehicle, probation, parole, code enforcement, hospital, insurance, licensing, real estate, etc.