Title
a. Receive a report on the Sheriff’s staffing needs, including an update on the impact to Sheriff’s patrol operations resulting from the recent transfer of 18 Deputy Sheriffs-Patrol positions to the County Jail;
b. Authorize to fill 11 unfunded Deputy Sheriff-Operations vacancies to reduce the impact of the transfer on patrol operations and to work with the County Administrative Office to identify sources of funding to cover the cost of filling the vacancies; and
c. Authorize to add six (6) Custody Control Specialist positions in the Sheriff’s Budget Unit 001-2300-SHE003-8238.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a report on the Sheriff’s staffing needs, including an update on the impact to Sheriff’s patrol operations resulting from the recent transfer of 18 Deputy Sheriffs-Patrol positions to the County Jail;
b. Authorize to fill 11 unfunded Deputy Sheriff-Operations vacancies to reduce the impact of the transfer on patrol operations and to work with the County Administrative Office to identify sources of funding to cover the cost of filling the vacancies; and
c. Authorize to add six (6) Custody Control Specialist positions in the
Sheriff’s Budget Unit 001-2300-SHE003-8238.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On November 12, 2015, the Budget Committee requested the report be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. The Sheriff’s Office is currently seeking an independent staffing study to be conducted by an outside firm.
It was requested to add 18 additional deputies in the Jail during the FY 2015-16 budget process but was not approved. As a result, the Sheriff has taken a drastic measure to transfer 18 Patrol Deputies to the Jail effective October 3, 2015 to maintain the minimum staffing level at the Jail and drastically reduce overtime expenditures in the jail. By this mass transfer of personnel, the Patrol operation is greatly impacted. This reduction in Patrol staffing creates longer response times, officer safety and public safety issues, and in some cases no response at all to certain low-priority calls for service. In addition, if the transferred Patrol Deputies are not able to return to Patrol due to staffing issues in the Jail, the investment in training to be a Patrol Deputy will be impacted. Also, this will lower the morale of the Patrol Deputies and could lead them to accept jobs with other law enforcement agencies. It takes about 18 to 24 months for a Deputy Recruit to be able to function as a Deputy Sheriff-Corrections. Therefore, it is imperative for the Committee to support the request so the Sheriff’s Office could hire and enroll as many recruits as possible for January 2016 basic policy academy. As of this writing there are no vacant positions in Jail Operations and four (4) Deputy Sheriff-Corrections are now under-filling Patrol Deputy positions.
The Sheriff’s Office currently has 11 unfunded Deputy Sheriff-Operations positions. If supported by the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Office proposes to fill these positions and work with the County Administrative Office during the current fiscal year to identify funding to cover the cost of these positions, including potential savings from recently implemented cost containment efforts such as revised overtime policies, and additional support from the County. The Sheriff’s Office further proposes to report back to the Board of Supervisors in March 2016 with an updated staffing assessment, including the success of its recruitment efforts and vacancies remaining in the Office. Depending on the results of this assessment, the Sheriff’s Office may request additional staffing and funding to preserve the County’s patrol operation levels.
The Budget Committee supported the request to add six (6) Custody and Control Specialists (CCS) in the Jail Operations to provide the relief factor. Currently Deputy Sheriffs whose pay rate is higher than that of CCSs are hired on overtime base to cover the CCS staff shortage. Effective December 14, 2015, there will be only one (1) vacant CCS position available and there are 24 applicants who are getting close to receiving an offering letter. If the request is approved, the total number of CCS positions will be 30 and the Sheriff’s Office will work with the County Administrative Office to identify funding to cover the cost of the positions.
As of October 2, 2015, the average overtime per pay period for the COB was $153,245 and the salaries and benefit costs for 18 Deputy Sheriffs per pay period is approximately $102,968. The average overtime per pay period from October 3, 3015 to November 13, 2015 for the COB was $72,777. Even though the average overtime per pay period is reduced significantly, it will fluctuate over times and there will be no savings since the approved overtime budget was less than the requested and previous actual amounts. If the overtime spending continues to be lower, the Office might be able to meet the budgeted amount.
Effective October 3, 2015, most of COB staff’s shift hours have been changed from 12 hours to 8 hours. Some of the 8-hour shift’s advantages are to reduce fatigue and absenteeism, to achieve higher morale, to improve health and alertness of employees increasing safety for employees, inmates, and the public.
At the writing of this report, there are six (6) applicants who are getting close to receiving an offering letter to start the basic police academy in January 2016 and 60 applicants are in the background processes for Deputy Sheriff-Recruit positions.
As the Budget Committee requested, the Sheriff’s Office is planning to report back sometime in 2016 after a staffing study is done on a phased staffing level increase proposal.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The County Administrative Office and Human Resources have reviewed the report.
FINANCING:
It is recommended that the Sheriff’s Office fill 11 unfunded vacancies to reduce impacts to its patrol operations. Depending on the success of its recruitment efforts and timing of employee placements, filling these 11 positions could add an additional $660,000 in costs to the Sheriff’s Office current year budget ($1,320,000 ongoing annualized costs). The costs for the additional six (6) CCSs are estimated at $235,000 ($470,000 on going annualized costs). The Sheriff’s Office would work with the County Administrative Office to identify sources of funding to cover these costs, which could include savings from internal costs savings measures as well as Countywide general fund contributions.
Prepared by: Kevin Oakley, Chief Deputy Sheriff, ext. 3754
Approved by: Stephen Bernal, Sheriff-Coroner, ext. 3851