West Hollywood : Police Department Forum

Voters can begin judging the debate over a proposal to create a city Police Department during a televised public forum on the issue Sept. 14.

Representatives from both sides of the Nov. 3 ballot measure will argue their cases in West Hollywood Park Auditorium from 6 to 8 p.m.

The ballot initiative is shaping up as the city’s hottest political issue of 1992. Proponents say dumping the city’s current contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in favor of a local police force would give residents more control over law enforcement.

The department has long been criticized, among other things, as biased against gays, who make up as much as a third of the city’s population. Opponents argue that creating a Police Department would be far too expensive and would also mean abandoning reforms already achieved in the way the Sheriff’s Department operates in West Hollywood.