What Happened?
San Jose is suffering from a decline in police officers, and Santa Clara County may lend the services of sheriff’s deputies to fill the void. To pay for the sheriff’s deputies, San Jose would need to leverage unspent police funds resulting from vacancies on its police force.
The Goal
While the use of sheriff deputies may be a temporary solution for San Jose’s dwindling police force, many local governments are considering similar strategies that make better use of deputies through shared services-type plans. Because cities are facing pressure to reform public employee pension systems, many police forces are having to cut back on costs as well as officer benefits. By working with county sheriff’s departments, local police could potentially satisfy law enforcement demands while employing fewer full-time officers.
In fact, Santa Clara County law enforcement services have already been deployed at local and regional levels – such as airports - to support police. The strategy calls for sheriff’s deputies to offer services to cities or regional authorities on a contract basis. Cities could use the deputies to target specific areas where crime rates are high, or boost law enforcement presence at major events. Furthermore, when specific cases may leave local police stumped, sheriff’s deputies could be contracted to provide extra assistance in solving the crime.
Building Safety
San Jose is not the only city facing a shortage of police officers to patrol the streets. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is looking to hire 187 new officers to fill vacancies throughout the state that were created when local governments had to make significant cuts to law enforcement numbers. Now that many cities have started to recover from the economic recession, law enforcement hiring is on the rise.
The Phoenix Police Department, for example, has not had a graduating class of new police officers in the past six years. Phoenix, like many other cities, used reserve officers to supplement low numbers until budgetary restrictions were lifted.
Until cities are able to replenish low law enforcement numbers, it will be difficult for police to maintain high levels of public safety for residents. If less officers are available, it may take longer for crimes to be solved.
Still Struggling
In Massena, New York, the local police chief has had cut his proposed spending plan for the upcoming year to enable a tax levy increase dropping from 8.6 percent to 6.3 percent. The police department will use $125,444 less than originally planned, with the savings spread out between reductions in equipment and personnel.
The department will postpone the purchase of a new police car for at least a year, while a recently retired officer’s vacancy was filled with an entry-level officer. In addition, the department has adjusted its overtime budget, cutting back on how much is available to officers. The pressure to cut back on costs is the result of the city using less than half of the appropriate fund balance to support the police department that was used last year.
The Price of Justice
Gov1 has followed the unique solutions to challenges surrounding public employee costs and benefits, specifically those relative to police and fire departments.