The small city of Maywood south of downtown Los Angeles plans to lay off almost all its employees, disband its police department and contract municipal operations to a neighboring city.
Facing a budget deficit of at least $450,000 and unable to get insurance because of a history of lawsuits, many involving the police department, the Maywood City Council said Monday night it had no choice but to adopt the plan.
The 1.2-square-mile city will hire the Los Angeles County sheriff's department for law enforcement services, and the neighboring city of Bell will handle other city services such as finance, records management and parks and recreation.
Experts told the Los Angeles Times the decision appeared to be unprecedented among California cities.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com