By David Hernandez
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Every police department in San Diego County and the Sheriff’s Department exceeded their overtime budgets last fiscal year, at least in part because of staffing challenges, a new report says.
The region spent $2.6 billion on public safety, with about half spent on law enforcement and the rest spent on courts, prosecutors, public defenders, jails and probation, according to the San Diego Association of Governments report. The $1.3 billion in law enforcement spending represented a 2 percent decrease from fiscal year 2021.
Cities that operate their own police departments spent an average of 32 percent of their budgets on law enforcement, from 22 percent in Carlsbad and Chula Vista to 48 percent in El Cajon.
The amount spent on law enforcement per capita ranged from $213 per resident in Chula Vista to $662 in Coronado. The regional average was $384.
There were 5,955 positions in law enforcement countywide, including 4,350 officers. Five agencies saw small increases in their sworn staff positions, and six agencies saw no change from the previous fiscal year.
The ratio of officers to population remained well below the national average, with 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents compared to 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents nationally. Escondido and Chula Vista had the fewest, at 1.05 per 1,000 residents.
Coronado had the most at 2.06 officers per 1,000 residents. San Diego was at 1.43 per 1,000 residents.
The figures do not reflect job vacancies. However, all local agencies, except Coronado, said they found it difficult to fill positions and maintain staffing levels, citing high attrition and retirement rates and recruitment challenges, the report said.
Staffing was presumably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for police reform and demonstrations in recent years that lowered the public’s perception of law enforcement, a factor that has resulted in fewer applicants for departments, the report said.
Cynthia Burke, SANDAG’s senior director of data science, said in an interview that she believes several aspects of the job raise a question for many: Why be a police officer? She noted that officers deal with complex issues, such as homelessness. Burke also said some officers feel it’s harder to crack down on crime because of state law changes such as Proposition 47, which reclassified certain types of low-level drug and property crimes as misdemeanors instead of felonies.
In response to the staffing issues, departments explored new recruitment strategies, such as social media campaigns, awarded employees pay raises and offered incentives to new hires, according to the report.
As a result of vacancies, four agencies reported hiring freezes, a step usually taken to reallocate funds, according to the report. El Cajon froze three sworn positions, Chula Vista froze six sworn positions, Escondido froze seven non-sworn positions and the Sheriff’s Department froze 15 sworn positions, including 14 in its Detention Services Bureau and one in its Human Resources Bureau.
The staffing issues also caused departments to exceed their overtime budgets by $35.4 million combined, according to the report. SANDAG said the Sheriff’s Department surpassed its overtime budget by $19.3 million and the San Diego Police Department went over by $10.2 million.
The expenses are expected to continue. In late February, San Diego police Chief David Nisleit reported to the City Council that his department anticipates it will exceed its $40.2 million overtime budget by $9.2 million in the current fiscal year. The chief, in a memo, cited a shortage of patrol officers as the main reason. Other factors were busy holidays and special events, including the Padres playoff run.
The San Diego Police Department lost 241 officers last fiscal year, including 77 who retired and 66 who got jobs at other law enforcement agencies, according to department records. The departures also included 98 officers who left the department because of the city’s vaccine mandate, which was later lifted.
As of last week, the department had 194 vacancies: 1,842 of 2,036 sworn positions were filled.
To manage, the department has reassigned officers in several assignments, such as traffic enforcement and full-time SWAT, to patrol duties so they’re available to respond to calls.
“Everybody is being asked to chip in from various specialized units to make sure we have enough officers in the field,” Capt. Jeff Jordon said in an interview.
Aside from patrol officers, the department faces a shortage of detectives, with 109 positions vacant as of last week, according to department records.
In response, the department intends to ask the city to add 20 non-sworn police investigative service officer positions to its budget to support patrol and investigative personnel. The additional non-sworn employees would process and review arrest and crime reports, among other tasks, Jordon said.
“These are (tasks) that we think civilians can do to free up officers to do other things,” Jordon said.
In the Sheriff’s Department, most of the overtime occurs in detention facilities, although there’s also overtime needs in courts and patrol, Undersheriff Rich Williams said in an interview.
The department requires deputies and sergeants to work overtime each pay period in detention facilities, courts and patrol.
“The challenge for us is to not let staffing shortages impact service,” Williams said.
The department lost 339 deputies last fiscal year, including 192 who retired and 122 who resigned, according to the department. As of last week the department was 324 deputies short of the 2,759 positions budgeted, although 141 of the unfilled positions were budgeted for a not-yet-completed detention facility in Otay Mesa.
“The encouraging news is that we’ve been hiring at a very accelerated pace,” the undersheriff said, adding that the department has asked staff to work “less and less” overtime.
The department has participated in recruiting events more frequently, visited other states more than before and considered younger applicants, Williams said.
“We’re casting a much wider net,” he said.
Among the new hires are three former New York City Police Department officers, he said.
Law enforcement leaders will discuss staffing challenges and the report during SANDAG’s Public Safety Committee meeting on April 21.
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