Belvedere is preparing to hire an outside firm to study whether the city should keep running its own Police Department or share policing with neighboring Tiburon, with officials pointing to a persistent staffing squeeze that has left the department short-handed for years. The city budgets for six active officers, but only four duty officers are currently available because of a long-term disability leave, according to the city.
Two-Part Study Would Test the Department's Future
City Manager Robert Zadnik laid out the plan for the City Council on Oct. 12, saying the study would come in two parts, as reported by The Ark. The first phase would examine the existing department, including its staffing, equipment and overall operations, to determine whether current staffing levels and equipment are appropriate for a department serving a community of Belvedere's size, Zadnik said.
The second phase would look further ahead, examining whether it is feasible to consolidate police services with Tiburon or form a joint police agency between the two cities. Officials have floated three possible structures: a full merger, a shared police chief, or a joint agency the two cities would govern together, per the same report. Zadnik told the council that the idea of a shared police service had long been discussed in Belvedere but never fully researched.
A Department Stretched Thin for Years
The staffing math behind the study is stark. Belvedere's budget calls for Chief Jason Wu plus five duty officers, but the long-term disability leave has cut that down to four officers currently on duty, the city of Belvedere says on its website. The department has faced several staffing setbacks over the past two years that have challenged its coverage model, the city notes, and the City Council has already discussed two potential service models to address the shortfall while promising to invite further public participation as the process moves forward.
The shortage is not new. Belvedere operated with five full-time sworn officers, not including Chief Wu, going back to 2020, and spent much of 2023 running with just three patrol officers after one officer left for a job in Novato and another went on administrative leave, according to a 2023 report from the Marin Independent Journal. That same stretch saw Tiburon designate an officer to cover Belvedere shifts, with the overtime cost billed back to Belvedere. In 2025, the council considered hiring an additional officer or piloting overnight coverage with Tiburon, according to a Citizen Portal report.
Overtime Costs and Earlier Options on the Table
The chronic shortages have also driven up overtime spending, according to a report from Citizen Portal, which noted the council had previously debated two staff-recommended fixes: hiring an additional full-time officer outright, or piloting overnight coverage with Tiburon Police. The new study would go further than either of those stopgaps, probing whether a formal structural change makes more sense long term.
Marin Already Has a Model for Merged Policing
If Belvedere and Tiburon do eventually combine forces, they would not be inventing something new for Marin County. The Central Marin Police Authority was established in January 2013 through a joint powers agreement binding Larkspur, Corte Madera and San Anselmo, created by folding the San Anselmo Police Department into the existing Twin Cities Police Authority, according to the Marin Local Agency Formation Commission. That agency now provides police services to roughly 35,000 residents across Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo and part of Greenbrae, governed by a council with two members from each town and managed day to day by a committee of city and town managers alongside the chief of police.
The original Twin Cities Police Authority itself traces back to a joint powers agreement between Larkspur and Corte Madera, according to a resolution filed by the town of Corte Madera, and when San Anselmo joined in, the arrangement was formalized through a six-member police council with two representatives from each community, the Marin Independent Journal reported at the time. Under California's Joint Exercise of Powers Act, such arrangements are built on agreements among public agencies, a category the law defines broadly to include cities, counties and other public entities, according to the California Legislative Information website.
Belvedere would not be the only small city weighing this kind of consolidation right now. Carrboro and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, are separately discussing the feasibility of sharing a police department through an interlocal agreement, with Carrboro officials framing the move as a way to save money as its own department faces renovation and vehicle-replacement costs, according to Chapelboro.com. That proposal includes a possible November 2026 pilot with a five-officer cohort sharing space, with a formal public presentation set for Nov. 10.
For now, Belvedere's process remains in its early stages, with the outside firm not yet named and no decision made on whether a merger, shared chief or joint agency would actually move forward. Zadnik's framing to the council made clear the study is meant to finally answer a question city leaders have sat with for years without a full accounting of the costs, staffing realities and tradeoffs involved.
