Missing the Police
The future of the San Diego Police Department
By Jared Calloway
By Jared Calloway
Her car was hit from behind, the rear bumper fell off and the trunk popped open. Still in shock from what just happened she quickly grabbed her phone and dialed 911. As she put the phone to her ear she heard tires screeching, the car that had just hit her quickly sped away. “I couldn't believe my eyes,” she said. “I realized at that point only the police could help.” She resumed talking to the operator and explained her situation. The operator calmly said they would try to send officers out. Not thinking of it until well after she hung up the phone, she realized the small, but distinct word. “Try.” She waited there for 2 full hours and no one came.
“We’ve reached the tipping point,” Police Chief Bill Lansdowne told a City Council committee. “For the first time in several years, we’re seeing a disturbing increase in the level of crime in the city of San Diego, and we’re also beginning to experience again officers leaving the San Diego Police Department and making other choices.” 10 out of 10 times when you call the police you expect them to go out and check whatever you have reported or whatever is happening to you, but in the city of San Diego the police department has proven otherwise. The scenario just described is all too common in San Diego. There have been many reports of people calling the police and no one showing up. If your call is not a life or death situation sometimes the police won't or better stated can’t, investigate your issue. This isn't because they just don't want to, but because they are so short staffed that often times they are just not able to. To get an inside look at the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), I scheduled an interview with Officer Alvarado in the Eastern Division of the SDPD. He was a short stocky Mexican male with a large grey and black mustache. During the interview I could tell by the look on his face that he was truly disappointed with what had become of the San Diego Police Department. “The San Diego Police Department was once the pinnacle of law enforcement, now look what has become of it.” The San Diego Police Department has only 2,006 active police officers, which is about 600 less than what they are supposed to have. According to the voiceofsandiego.org, the SDPD is going to be losing 1,800 of those officers over the next four years to either retirement or officers voluntarily quitting. So if we do the math that leaves the second largest city in California which covers over 4,000 square foot miles of land with only 206 officers to protect it...that's not acceptable. While that is only an estimate, and not all of the officers will leave, that number realistically isn’t that far off and is still a staggering projection. In reality the SDPD loses dozens of officers every month for many reasons, some including retirement and discontentment with the salary and benefits. This lack of staffing comes with even bigger consequences than just the one pointed out thus far with the police not showing up. Starting around July 2014, San Diego has seen a major increase in crime. In over the past decade San Diego’s crime rate has rapidly increased and it is primarily because of the inability to send officers whenever needed. “In a salary and benefit survey taken by the city,” said Officer Alvarado, “with 19 departments, the SDPD ranked 19th.” The SDPD is among the worst when it comes to pay and benefits, when it should be the best because these are the people that are supposed to be protecting our community. These are the people who are supposed to be there when you need them. Forget about the superheroes you see on T.V or in the movies. In real life the heroes are the ones who respond to emergencies when no one else will.
Why don’t they just recruit new officers? Well it’s not that easy since the police department is having a hard time finding people that are willing and qualified to work for them. Why go to the SDPD when they can work somewhere else with better pay and benefits? For this very reason, new and or inexperienced people are gaining seniority ridiculously fast, which is not a good thing. Now my first thought was, if there is no police department who will watch over us? Will we need to have a purge of some sort? Will anarchy and violence break out within the city? Will San Diego become so corrupt that we become some sort of a Gotham City? The answer is no to all of these scenarios, no matter how dramatic they sound; there will still be the Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department is more or less like the SDPD, but San Diego isn't their only area of responsibility. They have to protect other cities as well. The Sheriff’s Department has just signed a contract with the city of San Diego that gives them a lot of money to protect and serve San Diego. With this money they can hire more officers and pay the officers they already have a lot more money. While this is going on the City of San Diego has failed to reach the contractual agreements already set in place with the SDPD, causing senior officers to leave to maintain benefits, medical, and retirement. Consequently more and more SDPD officers are leaving to join the Sheriff’s Department, because the future of the San Diego Police Department isn't looking so bright. Primarily, the police department’s veteran officers are transferring to the Sheriff’s Department because they can get paid based on their experience and the base pay is higher for more experienced officers. Now recently entering into the picture Shelley Zimmerman has become a key part to this equation as the new police chief of the San Diego Police Department. The Mayor of San Diego, Kevin Faulkner, appointed her the police chief after a unanimous decision from the city council back in March 2014. In a breakfast hosted by the North San Diego Business Chamber, Chief Zimmerman says, "We are recommitting every second of every single day to the words that are written on the doors of our police cars.” "They say 'America's Finest' and that's who we are going to be.” This means that as the new Police Chief Zimmerman wants to return the SDPD to its former glory. This would mean getting more officers to the SDPD, raising the pay and benefits for senior officers, and getting the crime rate back down to its normal low state. She has a lot of work ahead of her, but I am excited to see what she can do. As I exited the Police Department building grieving with all the officers inside I see the woman that was in the accident waiting for the bus. Knowing I couldn't miss this opportunity to talk to her I walked over and introduced myself. As we got acquainted with one another I hesitantly asked her if she thought the police department would ever recover from this. She looked down for a couple seconds, then looked back at me and said, “I do... I believe it will... but it’ll take a miracle.” |