Inglewood to use $1.1 million from City’s reserves to pay for supplemental police services for SoFi Stadium

Inglewood Police Department (IPD) has lost many top level police personnel to retirement, and as a result, are severely understaffed as the NFL kicks off the 2021-2022 season next month.  As a result, the city will hold a special city council meeting, July 12, at 9:00 a.m. to pay invoices for supplemental police services from neighboring law enforcement agencies.

The city will authorize transferring $1.1 million from the city’s reserves to cover invoices both received and anticipated for law enforcement services related to events at SoFi Stadium through July 31, 2021.

The city will allocate $607,109 to the Sheriff’s department, and an additional $500,000 to the Hawthorne Police Department for an agreement covering 2021-2022, with options for two one-year renewals.

It is unclear whether an agreement exists between SoFi Stadium and the City for these services to be billed to the stadium for police personnel, as is the case with events at the Forum.

The bigger question is will taxpayers be reimbursed by the stadium?

The City claims they are awaiting reimbursement of $247,171 from the Department of Justice, for the COPS Hiring Recovery Program, but it is clear the city is falling short on maintaining acceptable staffing levels to address the residents needs, let alone supplementing staffing for a multi-billion dollar stadium, as crime continues to rise.

These are the same grant funds a former city employee alleges the city misspent.

The City is also making it a habit to use special city council meetings to approve transfers of the city’s reserves, and approval of items related to the stadium and proposed Clippers arena to keep residents in the dark.  It is obvious when you call for a special meeting at 9:00 on a Monday morning.

Police Chief Mark Fronterotta is listed as the council presenter for these two agenda items.  Residents will wait with baited breath to see if he actually shows up to the meeting.