Councilmembers seek two-pronged effort to recruit & retain force
Manny Lopez | Downtown News
Members of the San Diego City Council led by Kevin Faulconer held a press conference outside of City Hall on June 18, calling for a Budget and Finance Committee meeting to discuss ways to appropriate $2 million set aside in next year’s budget to address the San Diego Police Department’s growing recruitment and retention problems.
Faulconer urged the meeting be held ahead of the month-long August legislative recess. “We passed the budget last week and we don’t want to wait months on a retention plan,” Faulconer said. “I want to get it going immediately.”
Council President and Budget Committee Chairman Todd Gloria later scheduled a budget hearing on the matter, set for July 17.
According to the San Diego Police Officer’s Association, which represents over 98 percent of the more than 1,850 sworn members of the SDPD, 300 officers have left the Department in the past decade increasing their take-home pay in some cases by as much as $1,500 monthly, and about half of the current force is eligible for retirement in the next four years. Brian Marvel, president of the SDPOA, had previously stated that officers are forced to pay for their own uniforms and some equipment such as shotguns and long rifles.
“We spend over $100,000 to train a new officer and we need to make sure that we keep them and that they are not lured away by other agencies offering more incentives,” Faulconer said afterward the press conference. “We’ve asked the Department to come with their best ideas to make this happen.”
District Six Councilmember Laurie Zapf pointed out that among the top 20 metropolitan areas in California, San Diego is next-to-last in the ratio of sworn police officers in proportion to the population. Councilmembers in attendance at the presser said the challenges being faced by the SDPD include the practice of nearby police agencies attracting young recruits away with signing bonuses of up to $5,000.
The recruitment and retention plan is part of a two-pronged effort according to Faulconer. The first was the ratification of a five-year labor agreement between the POA and the city of San Diego. The agreed-upon contract includes a two-percent raise in POA members pay the upcoming fiscal year, with a total of seven-percent in increases over the next five years. This represents a gradual restoration of the six-percent pay cut that has been in effect since 2009.
“Taxpayers have already made a huge investment in these officers’ training and we need to nurture that investment and keep them on the police force by making sure we have competitive wages,” Faulconer said. “Our officers do a phenomenal job out there and we need more of them, but that takes political will.”
Faulconer stated that as a council member, he has represented the beach areas and Downtown, which have some of the city’s highest impacts and traffic areas. He added that in the summertime over 100,000 people make their way daily to San Diego beaches and the bay.
“We need to always insure that we have adequate police staffing levels,” Faulconer said, adding, “I feel a need for a strong police presence and making sure that we give officers the tools they need to be successful.”
For more information on the San Diego Police Officers Association, visit sdpoa.org.
A native New Yorker, Manny Lopez is a freelance journalist and photographer who started his writing career in La Jolla. He now covers San Diego and Southwest-Riverside counties penning news, features and business profiles. Manny can be reached at [email protected].
