By Claire St. John/Enterprise staff writer

The Davis City Council voted Tuesday night to study ways to fund more police officers for Davis and to quell sales of cigarettes to minors.

Not coincidentally, because the Police Department is understaffed, tobacco sales to youth are not easily monitored or penalized, but Tuesday’s night’s council meeting went some way toward correcting both problems.

The city has been studying how to streamline its Police Department, fund needs and add more sworn officers to the street. The City Council was presented with a plan to phase in support, starting with a $150,000 allocation this year for some reorganization.

“We’re going to move forward with some of our recommendations because, philosophically, it’s the right thing to do,” said Police Chief Landy Black.

The Police Department and city staff hope that reorganization will streamline the department, and future funding will add more officers to the streets.

Over the next few years, the city expects to see $500,000 to $1 million in new revenue streams and reorganization in the city’s budget that can be used to hire more police officers and fund other department needs.

“Our crime rate is going up in Davis, and we need to be cognizant of that,” Black said.

The complexity of modern crime has also been an issue, and one recent identity theft case was found to have connections leading back to the former Soviet Union, Black said.

“We have to plan that things aren’t going to get less complex,” he said. “The structural change in the department is to streamline and help us grow without having to grow a third leg.”

After that, a tax may go before voters to help pay for recurring costs and bigger needs, such as a police training facility.

“It is our sincere hope that by 2009, 2010 we would have that flexibility,” said Davis Finance Director Paul Navazio.

There is no perfect ratio of police officers to residents, according to staff, but Davis, with about 0.93 officers per 1,000 residents, is at the low end of the scale.

Davis Police Officers Association President Sgt. Rod Rifredi said he supports more funding for the Police Department.

“If we don’t pay to play, we end up paying in other ways,” Rifredi said. “We’re stretched very thin.”

The council will look at needs and new funding for the city’s Fire Department at a future meeting.

In the meantime, tobacco sales to minors will be regulated without the help of police.

The council approved a $348 fee to local tobacco vendors that will go to Yolo County to fund a youth tobacco prevention program.

Of 114 minors who tried to buy cigarettes at Davis stores, a third were successful, a 2002-04 Yolo County study found.

While tobacco sales to minors are illegal, enforcement is another issue.

Davis, which has 32 tobacco vendors, including grocery stores and mini-marts, will impose a $348 fee each year, which will pay for the county’s administration costs, as well as three visits to each tobacco vendor per year. Those visits will be by a minor who will try to purchase cigarettes, and if successful, will report back to the county, which will issue a fine.

Several other cities - including Berkeley, Elk Grove, Sacramento and San Luis Obispo - have similar programs and have seen tobacco sales to minors drop, according to a staff report.

“We want the consequences to be that those who sell to youth are in violation and are penalized,” said Councilman Stephen Souza.

The rest of the council agreed, and passed the fee unanimously.