20A - AA FUND POLICE POSITIONS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appropriation Adjustment to Fund Authorized Police Officers December 3, 2019 Page 2 positions, for a total of 366 sworn officers (all ranks), in order to continue to fulfill the City Council and community's police officer hiring mission. With 366 sworn officers, Santa Ana would be at 1.1 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, and will be better equipped to successfully address these community and City Council priorities. Since July 2014, the Public Safety, Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Empowerment Council Committee has requested regular recurring updates on Police Officer Hiring to stay apprised of the City's progress towards filling all police officer vacancies. The Police Department has provided regular reports on its hiring efforts, and the number of sworn officers hired and separated by calendar year. In 2019, the Department has also included this information as a component in a monthly performance metric report to the Council. In response to the direction set by the City Council, the Police Department established a goal of hiring 50 police officers in calendar 2019 by December 31, 2019. Calendar year 2019 is projected to be the best year for police officer hiring in at least the past 20 years, based on available City and Police Department Human Resources Division data. By November 25, 2019, through the tremendous efforts of the Police Department's Human Resources Division and the City's Human Resources Agency, the Police Department will have hired 40 police officers and is projecting to hire its goal of up to 50 by the end of the calendar year. The number of sworn officers has increased from 302 sworn officers in July 2014 to an estimated 348 sworn officers by the end of November 2019. In support of Police Department hiring goals, the City Council has provided the resources necessary to enhance the Police Department Human Resources and Backgrounds units to effectively attract and efficiently process police officer applicants, including: One full-time Recruitment Corporal assigned to Backgrounds unit One additional professional Background Investigator position added to FY 18/19 budget Two additional sworn Investigators assigned to the Backgrounds Unit Two contracts with outside background investigation firms implemented Monthly physical agility testing Implementation of a-Soph backgrounds unit software Enhanced social media outreach promoting the Police Department and police officer recruitment events Implementation of Hiring Expos at the Santa Ana Police Department Improved efficiencies in the Police Department HR and Backgrounds Units to speed up applicant processing On-line testing For the past two years, there have been 36 unfunded police officer positions in the Police Department. This fiscal year, the Police Department has 348 funded and 36 unfunded sworn positions, for a total of 384 sworn officers. The Police Department projects that it will run out of funded police officer positions by the end of November 2019. The Police Department is requesting 20A-2