By Stephen Baxter
San Jose Mercury News
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — With four new sheriff’s deputies recently hired from San Jose police, law enforcement leaders said Silicon Valley’s loss is Santa Cruz County’s gain.
The Sheriff’s Office swore in four deputies in late April from the San Jose Police Department, which is slated to lay off more than 100 officers. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak said he hoped to hire four more San Jose officers by mid-June -- just in time for their busy summer months.
The additions will bring the Sheriff’s Office total sworn positions to 104 -- 20 fewer than what it had just a few years ago.
“I’m really encouraged,” Wowak said. “For the group of people we brought on two weeks ago and the group that we’re backgrounding now, they’re some of the most trained and experienced recruits in a decade. I think the community is really going to benefit from their experience.”
In a gesture of thanks, San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore called Wowak to thank him for hiring his officers. The officers were likely to be laid off July 1 because of San Jose’s precarious budget situation.
One hundred six San Jose police officers received layoff notices in April, and the San Jose City Council is expected to adopt a budget by June 30 that solidifies those losses. There are about 1,300 sworn officers in San Jose. Although the four San Jose police officers who accepted positions in Santa Cruz County had not yet been officially laid off, Moore said they must have seen the writing on the wall.
“The residents of Santa Cruz are getting some of the best trained officers today. I’m really sad that we’re losing them, but we couldn’t afford them,” Moore said. “It’s Santa Cruz’s gain and our loss.”
The new deputies have from 1 1/2 years to 3 1/2 years experience, and they are paid from $66,000 to $84,000 in gross salary per year, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Police salaries are generally higher in San Jose than the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. But Wowak used the county’s higher pension contribution as a recruiting tool. The new deputies pay 9 percent of their own pension costs in the Sheriff’s Office, Wowak said.
The four new sheriff’s deputies will now train with deputies on the street for the next four to five months before they patrol on their own.
Lt. Craig Wilson, who works in the sheriff’s administration office, said that hiring “laterals” -- or officers who worked for other law enforcement agencies -- saves money and can save a year in training time. Sheriff Wowak said his the office has tried to hire laterals because of that savings.
“It speeds everything up for us. It gets them out on the street quicker, and these are proven people,” Wowak said.
Santa Cruz County’s budget picture is different than that of the city of San Jose, but both face deficits.
The four new deputies include Bobby Paul, who was a San Jose cop for 3 1/2 years and attended Cabrillo College.
David Sullivan, another deputy, served in the U.S. Marine Corps before he joined San Jose police for 1 1/2 years. James Wright had been with San Jose police for 1 1/2 years, and Jordan Brownlee had been with them for slightly more than two years.
Copyright 2011 San Jose Mercury News