High Turnout Expected At Lake Elsinore Public Safety Advisory Commission Meetings

The Lake Elsinore Public Safety Advisory Commission meets Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and turnout is expected to be high.

The Tuesday meeting begins at 4 p.m. at the

Wednesday night, the commmission will hold its regularly scheduled meeting at the Cultural Center at 6 p.m. as well.

Interest in the meetings has increased The patrol program was expected to cost $246,426 to get started, according to city documents, and was put on hold by council members pending more details.

The $246,426 upfront cost was to cover such upstart activities as advertising, community promotions, administrative costs, and bringing volunteers on board, according to the documents. Two specific program activities would include sending a letter to all Lake Elsinore Unified School District parents warning that they are liable if their children tag property in the city; the letter would require a parent signoff. The program would also see a bounty program that would reward $1,000 for any tip that leads to the arrest and conviction of a tagger.

Council members said last week that they could not sign off on the program without specific details on critical issues such as how volunteers would be selected, what type of training they would receive and would the city be held liable if a volunteer got hurt while performing patrol duties. There was also concern that money should first be spent on putting more deputies back on patrol before paying out for the new Citizen’s Patrol Program. The city has cut down on police services contracted through the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department due to budget constraints.