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DLNews Law-Enforcement:

In Riverside County, keeping the peace may soon come with a steeper price tag. Sheriff Chad Bianco, facing mounting budget pressures and ballooning personnel costs, asks for a 7% increase in what cities and agencies pay for patrol services. If approved, the hourly rate for a deputy would jump from roughly $214 to $229—nearly $15 more every hour a patrol car rolls down local streets.

The sheriff’s request, which will be debated at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, signals the highest proposed jump in nearly a decade. Memories linger of the last major spike in 2015, when public backlash led to an independent probe, not from a local watchdog but from a professional services firm in the Netherlands. Yes, things got that heated.

This time, Bianco’s pitch comes against a far bigger financial backdrop. The county’s budget for 2024–2025 has climbed to a staggering $9.6 billion, up 11% from the previous year. Although the Sheriff’s Department slice isn't precisely spelled out, law enforcement remains one of the most significant and scrutinized expenditures.

What’s fueling the need for more cash? A paycheck reality check helps tell the story. Today’s deputies earn between $83,890 and $128,273 annually. Higher ranks, including Lieutenants and Correctional Captains, pull in between $145,600 and nearly $186,500 before overtime and bonuses — standard extras in a profession that doesn’t close at 5 p.m. Sheriff Bianco himself was California’s highest-paid sheriff in 2023, underscoring how compensation reflects both demand and responsibility.

Defenders of the proposal say these salaries ensure the department can attract and keep highly trained officers amid fierce competition and growing demands, from handling mental health crises to managing increasingly complex investigations.

Still, many local officials and residents see a familiar tension brewing. Higher costs can hit hardest in smaller cities that rely on the sheriff for affordable law enforcement coverage. The rate hike, they argue, could strain city budgets already stretched thin.

As the board weighs Bianco’s request, the debate is less about dollars and cents and more about priorities. Can Riverside County afford not to invest in public safety — or can it no longer afford how much that safety costs?

Either way, today's decision will ripple through city councils and neighborhoods alike, where the price of patrol is now as much about the politics as it is about policing.