After 40 years of contracting the Brea Police Department, Yorba Linda will now be policed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The city hopes to save over $2 million with the change, which is scheduled to take effect Friday at midnight. Vikki Vargas reports from Yorba Linda for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2013.
For residents of Yorba Linda, there is a new sheriff in town, literally. Friday night at midnight the city is slated to switch law enforcement agencies.
Following four decades under the watchful eye of the Brea Police Department, Yorba Linda will now be under the watch of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
City leaders say the change will save the municipality of about 60,000 residents more than $2 million a year.
Nineteen of the 26 deputies that will patrol Yorba Linda came over to the Sheriff's Department from the Brea Police Department. They'll switch from Brea's dark-blue uniforms to the sheriff's olive-green garb.
"They’re good deputies. They’re trained and they have experience and that’s invaluable," Deputy Lt. Bob Wren told NBC4.
The Sheriff's Department takes over as the city faces a rash of some three dozen home burglaries.
Losing the Yorba Linda contract will cost neighboring Brea $2.5 million a year, according to Brea Mayor Ron Garcia. He is talking with three other North County cities about consolidating law enforcement.
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"I think any community that isn’t looking at that is woefully not looking at the train coming down the tracks," Garcia said.
Yorba Linda is the 13th Orange County municipality to be covered by the sheriff’s department.
