CORRESPONDENCE - 85A - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mitre -Ramirez, Norma From: Gerry Serrano < Sent: Monday, August 01, 2016 4:53 PM To: eComment Subject: Council Agenda Item 85A 1 respectfully request my following comments be added to the 85A agenda item: Mayor and Councilmembers, The salary survey performed pursuant to the mandate of the current Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Santa Ana Police Officers Association discloses what was generally thought to be true: Santa Ana Police Officers and Police Sergeants are grossly underpaid. Per the City's survey Santa Ana Officers are as much as 19% percent below in pay than the top agencies; 18% percent below our neighboring agency: Anaheim Police Department. As a result, officers are retiring at the earliest possible opportunity, a practice previously unknown in Santa Ana. Even though eligible to retire, police officers typically stayed for an additional three to seven years. That provided the City with a strong cohort of experienced officers. Aside from the knowledge that these officers had, which made them a benefit to the citizens, they were in a position to pass that institutional knowledge and expertise on to newer employees in both formal and informal settings. Of significance is that since 2012, 111 officers have retired/separated/etc. and of those 37 officers were premature retirements or officers that left for other agencies. Of greater importance and an alarming fact is that Santa Ana Police Officers are now leaving to other police departments. This never occurred before! For years, Santa Ana PD was the place other officers would choose to lateral to. We recruited the best in the industry and it was common fact within the law enforcement community that everyone wanted to work at the Santa Ana Police Department thus we hired the best of the best. Now in unprecedented history, officers are applying and leaving to neighboring police departments. Since 2013, sixteen (16) police officers have left to other departments and two (2) resigned for personal reasons. Personal reasons? Additionally, since 2014 nine (9) police recruits resigned. Three (3) lateral officers hired quit within a year of employment. These things have never happened before. Are we hiring the best of the best? Police skills that are refined here, a city in which it takes police skills to do the job on a daily basis, are being taken to Anaheim and other agencies. Again the citizens of Santa Ana are the ones that suffer. Policing in Santa Ana is not becoming easier. Like most cities, Santa Ana is experiencing an increase in violent crime. Shootings have increased over 500% since 2012; murders have increased. Citizen concern with law enforcement practices has taken what was always a dangerous job and made it more so. Second-guessing and hesitation creep into every confrontation. And, as seen over the past month, outright assassination is becoming common. Longevity pay is being proposed to keep officers at the Santa Ana Police Department. A common program, used in most police departments and other public agencies, longevity pay is compensation of the years of experience one gains on the job. It is an incentive to remain at work, rather than leave as soon as possible. It keeps younger employees here with the promise of an added benefit as years of service increase.