$258 million budget shortfall impacts San Diego Police Department

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is seeking to close this year’s $258 million budget gap.

In search of savings, the mayor announced Wednesday, Dec. 4, that his administration is implementing an immediate hiring freeze and asking all city departments to halt all non-essential spending and look for cuts.

This also includes the San Diego Police Department, which has struggled with high turnover rates and staffing shortages for years.

During this time, shortages and previous cuts to the city’s police force impacted service levels, particularly by causing residents to wait longer for officers to arrive on non-emergency calls.

According to CBS 8, the highest priority calls, known as Priority 0, which are made when people are injured or in imminent danger, have remained consistent since 2018, with callers waiting an average of six and a half minutes for police to show up high.

For Priority 1 calls or those involving serious crimes such as child abuse, bomb threats and missing children, San Diego police take nearly 37 minutes to arrive on the scene.

Meanwhile, Priority 2 calls – burglaries not in progress and loud parties – take an average of 114.7 minutes for police to arrive, slightly better from 2022 but more than double since 2018.

The longest wait times occurred for callers reporting priority 3 calls or for non-urgent issues such as disruptions. It took 177 minutes for police to arrive at the scene, an improvement of thirteen minutes compared to the previous year.

Finally, the four priority calls, which include parking violations and property searches, require police more than 100 minutes to arrive at the scene.

Budget cuts and the hiring freeze mean the San Diego Police Department cannot hire new employees because the department is already understaffed. Residents may have to wait even longer for service calls, especially as the department faces an impending wave of retirements.

“We have a severe staffing crisis and it is only getting worse,” said Lt. Jared Wilson, the president of the San Diego Police Officers Association. “We are facing over 150 retirements in the next 18 months alone. People who have to retire due to age and pension restrictions, we won’t be able to replace them as they are and that’s why we really need to do something.” It’s a lot, people for the police recruiting them, but then training them and giving them that experience.”

Wilson says that while the city and department have prevented the mass exodus of officers seen a decade ago, new budget cuts and fewer officers could potentially reverse that.

“If we continue on the path we were on 10 years ago, we will become another training ground where we lose officers to Riverside County or other jurisdictions where they can make more money and work in a safer environment because “The Law enforcement in major cities is one of the toughest jobs in America,” Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Todd Gloria says his administration is prioritizing public safety and reassuring the city’s residents and police that the budget crisis will not result in a reduction in service levels.

“The primary mission of this organization is to protect the people and property of this city, and that will not change,” said Mayor Gloria.

Gloria added, “The goal will always be that when you call 911, someone will answer your call and we will send the appropriately trained professional to your home to take care of whatever you need. I don’t expect that.” I don’t think it will be easy to change that, but that is the task we have been given.