HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2009-02-23 #GAGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: February 23, 2009
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
THRU: David Carmany, City Manager
FROM: Jeff Kirkpatrick, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: POLICE RECRUITING AND RETENTION ISSUES AND
INCENTIVES
SUMMARY OF REQUEST:
Urban police departments around the nation, within California, and especially the
Seal Beach Police Department, are struggling to attract qualified recruits. This
shortage of qualified applicants has reached critical proportions.
Staff is requesting the City Council to consider authorizing the use of historically
unconventional recruiting methods and incentives to attract qualified recruits to
the police department and to retain those employees and police officers in good
standing.
BACKGROUND:
ISSUE
Estimates by the California Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission
(POST), which regulates the hiring and training of California police officers and
deputy sheriffs, supported by Rand Corporation and International Association of
Chiefs of Police (IACP) studies of peace officer recruitment and retention,
indicate that California alone has approximately 8,000 open, sworn peace officer
positions, which are and will remain unfilled.
One percent (1 %) of peace officer applicants in California successfully
matriculate through academy, field training, probationary periods and out to five
years of tenure. If this figure were applied against the 8,000 current statewide
peace officer openings, then it would take approximately 640,000 applicants to fill
those openings. Such a pool of qualified applicants does not exist today and is
unlikely to exist in the future!
The Seal Beach Police Department's sworn ranks have been consistently
shorthanded for all of the last four years and for many years prior, by as much as
almost 36%. For each of those last four years a minimum of three (3) and as
Agenda Item G
Police Department Recruiting & Retention Issues 2
many as seven (7) police officers have remained off-duty and incapable of work
for extended periods of time due to on-the-job incurred injuries and illness.
Several have been retired due to their injuries and one currently awaits an
outcome regarding his injury and a disability retirement.
During this time, only two officers have received a `full-service' retirement. (`Full-
service retirement' means that an officer serves his/her entire 30+ years and did
not use the disability system.)
Recently, one officer has been promoted from within the Department's civilian
core and two officers have been promoted from within the Department's Reserve
Officer (volunteer) Corps. These promotions backfilled an officer fired for not
matriculating through training and for two disability retirements. Two other
disability retirements were backfilled "off of the street."
The Department is now using previously long-term programs as a new `farm
system' to supply the organization with the potential to backfill openings as they
occur. We are developing future police officers from our Community Service
Officer (CSO) and Reserve Police Officer (RPO) programs. However, there are
limitations to our ability to exploit these two programs.
Current CSO's are working to meet personal living needs. It is
financially difficult or impossible for them to put themselves through
local, college-based, police academies without financial sponsorship.
More than a decade ago, the State changed the training requirements
for community members to become Reserve Police Officers (RPO's).
Community members wishing to become RPO's must now attend a
full-time police academy (up to six months) or part-time for a year.
Businessmen and working folks typically do not have the time to
devote to such training.
This report will later address a means to better support and exploit these two
programs.
STAFFING
The department is allotted fifty-four (54) full-time employees to service the
community. Of the thirty (30) sworn personnel, twenty-six (26) of those officers
are assigned to the Patrol and Detective Bureaus with the primary responsibility
of responding to immediate calls for service at any time, anywhere within the
community.
The Department is committed to hiring only the most qualified applicants
available. It has resisted a national trend to lower recruiting and hiring standards
and open the organization and community to the problems a lowering of
standards brings. However, even if hiring standards are lowered, the statistics
demonstrate there are not enough applicants to go around. Minimum
Police Department Recruiting & Retention Issues 3
qualifications include very clean histories, sound personal and financial
backgrounds, a past and present drug free lifestyle, along with physical and
psychological soundness for the job. Minimum standards do not currently place
a premium on formal education beyond a high school diploma. The
Department's standards are necessarily stringent and high for applicants to
honorably and ethically serve the Seal Beach community.
Moreover, with an eye to succession and replacement, the City recently
requested a Public Agency Retirement Services agency study of police
department staff relative to their retirement eligibility. Currently eight (8) police
officers are immediately eligible for retirement -today. If all eight officers
decided to take service retirements in 2009, we would have to replace each of
them - or 26% of our police force! At least three more officers are eligible for
service retirements within the period from 2010-2012, with more to follow in large
groups thereafter.
The Department is staffed with a `minimum-staffing' level of personnel (meaning
that each on-duty police officer has one other officer available to him/her as a
backup) to achieve minimum safety standards for themselves and the
community. This equates to three (3) officers and a supervisor on each of two
shifts per day, every day. If one of them cannot work due to injury or illness, that
officer must be replaced (`backfilled') by officers called away from a regular day
off, training, or vacation. There are shifts that frequently run short because other
personnel are simply not available. As an example, during the recent Freeway
Complex Wildfires, as many as ten (10) officers were unavailable due to illness,
vacation, pre-approved out-of-town absences, etc. We had no personnel to offer
to satisfy mutual-aid requests.
It is necessary to maintain a full complement of police officers to serve our public.
Officer and community safety concerns are paramount. `Officer Safety' is the law
enforcement maxim, which recognizes that it is a hazardous profession -even in
Seal Beach. Officers voluntarily put themselves into potentially dangerous
situations in order to protect and serve their community. Consequently, they
must constantly serve as each other's protector. Our officers face risks that
range from undercover drug stings to volatile domestic disturbances and armed
robberies. Unfortunately, violence as a viable tactic to escape and avoid
incarceration is a daily potential.
Other agencies throughout the state, including Orange and Los Angeles
counties, are now using non-traditional methods and incentives to attract and
retain qualified recruits. The chart below is a sampling of recruiting incentives
polled from industry trade magazines and is designed to attract interest.
Police Department Recruiting & Retention Issues 4
PEACE OFFICER RECRUITING INCENTIVES
1 $5,000 signing bonus following completion of FTO Program San Francisco PD
2 $20,000 down payment for San Francisco home purchase San Francisco PD
3 $5,000 relocation fees paid for San Francisco renters San Francisco PD
4 4 week mini-sabbatical paid annually in-lieu of paid holiday time: Citrus Heights PD
5 Academy grads are reimbursed up to $2,500 for academy tuition
and expenses upon successful completion of probationary period Citrus Heights PD
6 No interest, two-year loan up to $2,500 for purchase of laptop
computer Antioch PD
7 $10,000 signing bonus Antioch PD
8 200 hours sick-leave carry over from former agency/laterals Santa Cruz SD,
Richmond PD
9 $6,000 signing bonus for lateral officers
Santa Cruz SD,
Richmond PD
10 $3,000 signing bonus for entry level officers Santa Cruz SD,
Richmond PD
11 Education pay -- AA-5%, BA-15%, MA-20% EI Segundo PD
12 100% paid college tuition books EI Segundo PD
13 Paid retiree medical benefit EI Segundo PD
14 Transfer up to 960 hours of sick time for lateral officers Santa Rosa PD
15 Immediate Top Step pay for qualified lateral officers Santa Rosa PD
16 4% base pay for Master Police Officer Program Santa Rosa PD
17 3% shift differential Newport Beach PD
18 Credit for prior service Newport Beach PD
19 Appointment comparable to or above current salary BART PD
20 3 weeks vacation after first year plus annual vacation buy-back plan BART PD
21 Employer subsidized health club membership Fairfield PD
22 Assigned vehicle program Costa Mesa PD
23 2.5% Uniform assignment pay Costa Mesa PD
24 Shortened probation process for laterals Richmond PD
25 Paid medical benefit at retirement Richmond PD
26 Lateral transfers may apply up to 5 years previous service toward
longevity pay Vacaville PD
27 Retiree medical coverage Vacaville PD
28 Annual sick-leave buy back program Gardena PD
29 $450/month Specialty pay Citrus Heights PD
Additionally, city and police organizations can do much to enhance their
recruiting and retention efforts as suggested by Rand Corporation, California
P.O.S.T., and I.A.C.P. studies. Each suggests organizational retooling as
indicated in the chart below.
Police Department Recruiting & Retention Issues 5
SELECTED RAND, P.O.S.T. and I.A.C.P. STUDY SUGGESTIONS ON
RECRUITING/RETENTION
1 Use department employees as recruiters & give them $$ bonuses for referring successful
candidates.
2 Include an on-line sample test on department's website to give recruits an idea of what
types of questions they might face on qualification exams.
3 Ensure that the exam pass-points are reasonable.
4 Allow other standardized tests such as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to
substitute for other traditional written exams, attracting veterans.
5 Establish stable funding for recruiting efforts that become line items in the department's
budget.
6 Establish a 'police recruit' job classification and sponsor academy recruits.
7 Establish a recruiting team.
8 Advertised via a recruiting video at a local chain theater and You Tube
9 Start experienced officers at higher rates on the pay scale. Renegotiate union contracts to
eliminate any delays in experienced officers receiving benefits (i.e. education incentives).
10 Create My Space and Face Book pages to market Departments audiences that are
Internet savvy and technologically aware.
11 Use an approach similar to college sports recruiting involving a lot of personal attention
given to applicant.
12 Sponsor applicant through police academy.
13 Place recruiting ads/displays in public restroom locations: restaurants, health clubs, etc.
14 Place recruiting ads/billboards on buses, bus stops, mobile billboards, etc.
15 Hire part-time officers with competitive pay. Organization and candidate get to test the
culture for long-term fit.
16 Use WWW hits by locations to target applicants.
17 Assign an "officer mentor" to personally assist applicants.
18 A pay for performance evaluation program that identifies and recognizes blue chippers.
19 Assign an "officer mentor" to personally assist applicants.
The City and Department have done much toward retaining employees. Yet
despite these efforts, attracting qualified applicants for peace officer positions
remains difficult. We have implemented the following to date, including:
1. Developed and implemented uniform standards for duty clothing.
2. Developed a Career Development. Program for all employees (to be
implemented in 2009).
3. Developed an advanced training matrix dictating mandated and other
necessary training for all job classifications.
4. Joined a P.O.S.T. funded two-year team building program where past,
present, and future performance and strategies are analyzed, designed,
and implemented.
5. Developed and implemented an employee performance evaluation system
mandating high standards.
6. Developed and implemented a CompStat Professional Accountability
system for all employees mandating, reviewing, and demanding high,
ongoing, personal and professional standards.
Police Department Recruiting & Retention Issues 6
7. Developed and implemented a uniform fleet and personal equipment
standardization matrix ensuring all equipment is contemporary, state-of-
the-art, and force multiplying.
8. Developed and implemented state-of-the-art office automation,
networking, and information technologies.
9. Developed and implemented an awards recognition system, coupled with
an annual awards ceremony (partnered with the SB Chamber of
Commerce).
10. Developed and implemented a service ribbon program acknowledging
superior service, for wear on uniforms.
11. Completely revamped the Field Training Officer Program and assigned
`Mentor' FTO's to new hires.
This Council Agenda Report is not necessarily a request for more officers. It is a
request for authorization to employ new, non-traditional recruiting methods to fill
our current openings and to prepare for those looming in our very near future.
The City and Department have historically used traditional recruiting methods to
fill vacancies in an attempt to maintain minimum staffing standards. Traditional
methods include visits to college police academies and job fairs, placing ads in
law enforcement trade magazines, newspapers, and other media locations
thought to be frequented by job hunters. We have approached military
commanders and requested they place their soldiers who are soon to muster out
of military service into local police academies (on the Federal dime) so they will
have smooth transitions from military to civilian life. We have advertised on Web-
based `head hunter' sites such as Monster.com and Amazon.com.
Nevertheless, recruiting takes money, energy, and resources. Everything the
City and Department have done to date has literally been `done on the cheap."
Neither the City nor the police department has a sufficient number of personnel
to dedicate to active recruiting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
To be determined based upon City Council direction.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file this report and also direct
the City Manager to pursue non-traditional recruiting and retention strategies.
SUBMI , D BY: NOTED AND APPROVED:
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J Ki patrick, Chief of Police David Carmany, City Manager