HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 85AAugust 02, 2016
City Council Meeting
Correspondence
85A - DIRECT STAFF TO PROVIDE SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL PAY FOR PATROL OFFICERS
AND DEV INCENTIVE - RETENTION OF PD OFFICERS W/ 15 YEARS+ (Mayor Pulido)
Date of Sender/Representative Agency
Corresp.
1, 8/1/2016 GerrySerrano President, Santa Ana Police Officers
Association
Mgendas12016 AgendaslExhlbik 2016- Current Meeting12016 08-e2-Rhiblts_Correspondence_85A,docx
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.
In 2012, we had approximately 400 police officers in a city that at its peak is pushing a population of
half a million (500,000). Currently, we are flirting around 300-308 officers; that's unacceptable. In
order to get back to adequate and safe staffing levels, we must address this problem with a dual
prong approach; retention and recruitment. As you know, when hiring a recruit it can take up to if not
more than 18 months before they hit the street as a certified officer. The quickest way to improve
staffing is by retaining the officers we have. A Longevity program, which is common in most agencies,
will also assist the recruitment vain by bringing the Santa Ana Police Department in line with our
neighboring agencies.
Respectfully,
GERRY SERRANO, President
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
z