Menlo Park police officers are overworked, inexperienced and unhappy, according to a report compiled by Menlo Park administrative and police staff.
Now the City Council is undertaking the ambitious project of getting the department in better shape.
Council members will discuss how the city can recruit and retain more officers at their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 11. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Civic Center, between Laurel and Alma streets.
The force has lost 30 officers since 2004, beginning with an exodus of veteran officers under former chief Chris Boyd, and a handful of recent departures on the heels of a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by three black officers who recently resigned.
The department, when fully staffed, employs 50 sworn officers.
Of the 30 officers to leave, 17 — several of whom were veteran officers — resigned to join other police agencies, according to a report co-authored by Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour Ramberg and Cmdr. Lacey Burt. Officers have cited exhaustion, lack of opportunity, and morale problems, among other reasons, for resigning, according to the report.
Other issues cited in the report include:
• The police department has gotten significantly younger and less experienced, as more than half of the city’s officers — most of whom do not have prior law-enforcement experience — have been with the city for less than three years.
• Police officers and dispatchers work an average of seven and 15 hours of overtime per week, respectively. In the 2006-07 fiscal year, the police department paid employees $1.29 million in overtime — 28 percent more than what was projected.
• The average commute for a Menlo Park police officer is 40 minutes each way, with some officers living as far away as Modesto, Stockton, and Reno.
Short-term solutions
City Manager Glen Rojas said restocking police staff is a top priority, and he has formed a task force of city staff and police command staff to tackle the issue.At the Sept. 11 meeting, Mr. Rojas will present two short-term strategies to get more officers to Menlo Park — starting an aggressive recruiting campaign, and forming a referral bonus program so any city employee is rewarded up to $2,000 for referring a police officer who is hired and passes the probationary period.
Both of Mr. Rojas’ suggestions require council approval.
Long-term problem
Menlo Park is one of several police agencies competing for what Ms. Seymour Ramberg and Cmdr. Burt describe as a “shrinking applicant pool.”Fewer people are entering law enforcement in California, and an influx of retirements is expected by the year 2012 as baby boomers reach retirement eligibility, they say in the report.
“Solving our public safety shortage is a long-term problem,” said Mayor Kelly Fergusson. “To really solve this shortage, we need to recognize that it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Councilman John Boyle said one long-term solution could be to create incentives that reward officers who have long tenures in Menlo Park.
“I think it’s worth exploring the idea that the longer an officer stays, the more that officer accrues in a bonus account or a housing subsidy,” Mr. Boyle said. “That way, we’re not just handing out bonuses. They have to stick around and earn it.”
