Saratoga will keep the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office as its police force. The City Council voted 4-1 late Wednesday to continue the current contract and not to exit early in favor of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, NBC Bay Area reported.
The sheriff's office has policed Saratoga for about 70 years. Saratoga, Cupertino and Los Altos Hills each recently signed new five-year contracts with the county, but Saratoga's lets the city opt out after the first year. Had the council used that option, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police would have taken over in November 2027.
Dozens of residents and law enforcement officers filled the meeting.
The alternative on the table
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno department, run by the Town of Los Gatos, has policed Monte Sereno for 30 years. Its proposal for Saratoga carried an annual cost of about $9.7 million, which the department said would save the city roughly $2.7 million. Its chief told the council the plan would add staff positions and open a police substation in Saratoga.
City Manager Leslie Arroyo said the city began looking at options in 2025, when the county's proposal arrived and the city already expected costs to climb faster than revenue. "The discussion has never been solely about the cost of law enforcement," she said, describing it as a question of how the city weighs public safety against its other responsibilities.