TEHACHAPI, Calif. (KERO) — With a population of only roughly 2,200, the Stallion Springs Police Department has responded to and assisted residents 125 times per month over the past two years.
Locals say the future of their police department is uncertain, but they hope to revive Stallion Springs Police through Measure A.
“If they’re not here, the bad guys come,” said Steve Hyland, the president of the Support Stallion Springs Foundation.
The Board of Directors of the Stallion Springs Community Services District (CSD) ordered a special election to increase a current tax from $50 to $275 per year per parcel. All of this special tax revenue would go into funding the Stallion Springs Police Department’s programs and services.
Without this funding, the CSD says the effects would be detrimental.
“The reality is that the department will probably fold due to attrition. You have to have employees to work in a department for a department to exist, even though on paper it’ll still be there,” said Laura Lynne Wyatt, the general manager for the CSD.
She adds that Stallion Springs officers are currently being paid about 30% less than surrounding departments, making it harder to run police services and retain officers.
“We are severely understaffed,” said Wyatt. “My police chief reluctantly shares that number because there’s a lot of people, unfortunately, that would take advantage of the fact that we are very short-staffed. But I will tell you currently we have three officers, two full-time and one part time. Ideally we would like four to five full-time officers to run a good department and be there for the residents of Stallion Springs.”
Bill Siverson, a Stallion Springs resident, sent out about 1,800 letters throughout the neighborhood in an effort to get the word out.
“We want to keep our police here,” said Siverson. “They live here, they are neighbors, they are friends. If you go into town and Tehachapi and other areas, the officers don’t know you from Adam and Eve.”
But even then, it may be too late.
“The problem is if the measure passes, we don’t see the money for a year and a half,” said Hyland.
In the meantime, Hyland is kicking into high gear to keep the police department afloat through the Support Stallion Springs Foundation, who raises money for the police department and parks and recreation projects, among other community needs.
Hyland said, “The foundation is immediately starting fundraising activities to try to help support the money they need because they can’t wait a year and a half.”
Ballots are due by August 26 and can be submitted at the Kern County Tehachapi Branch Library.
Two-thirds of the ballots would need to be “yes” in order for Measure A to pass.
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