City Council

B. DISCUSSION REGARDING AN ORDINANCE TO ALLOW LOCAL\nPROSECUTION OF CERTAIN MISDEMEANORS\nOver the past several years, crime has been increasing in San Gabriel and\nthroughout the region. Not only has the area experienced an increase in violent\ncrimes, but other less severe, quality-of-life crime has also risen. This has resulted\nin more graffiti, car break-ins, shoplifting, and other property damage. To\naddress the increase in crime, the City Council has asked staff to collaborate with\nthe City Attorney’s Office to investigate ways to locally prosecute crimes that are\nnot being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The\nCity Attorney’s Office has identified several crimes that, if enforced, could\nprevent larger and more violent crimes from occurring. Staff is seeking direction\non a proposed ordinance that will be brought back in the future for\nconsideration of adoption. A quick review of the budgets of cities that prosecute\nmisdemeanor crimes locally indicates that a cost of $200,000 to $400,000\nannually would likely be required for a city the size of San Gabriel to have the\nCity Attorney’s office or an outside attorney locally prosecute misdemeanors.\nCalifornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Determination: Not a Project as\ndefined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines.\nRecommended Action:\nStaff recommends that the City Council discuss the proposed Ordinance and\nprovide staff with direction on how to proceed with local prosecution.