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Cash-Strapped San Bernardino Eyes Plan To Disband Police Department

SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — Officials in San Bernardino were expected Monday to consider a plan to disband the city's police department to help cut costs.

Earlier this month, the City Council approved a resolution that authorized Mayor Carey Davis to ask the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to provide law enforcement services for the cash-strapped city, which filed for bankruptcy protection in Aug. 2012.

City officials received a proposal from the Sheriff's Department in January of 2013, but that plan would need to be updated since Sheriff John McMahon was appointed in Dec. 2012, according to officials.

Other proposals being considered include outsourcing fire services to the county as the city scrambles to put together a bankruptcy exit plan.

San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris said outsourcing fire services could save millions of dollars

"We are belly to belly with six cities around us, delivering these services. Why not regionalize and save substantial dollars by regionalizing services?" Morris said last October.

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