What to do about San Diego’s shortage of cops? That’s a big question at City Hall these days and at San Diego Police Headquarters a few blocks away.
Things seem to be getting worse and not better when it comes to attracting and keeping cops on the force.
Reports say the number of unfilled positions in the San Diego police department has climbed to almost 240, up from 170 last fall and 207 this past spring. Not a good trend.
There are more than 2,000 budgeted positions so that means a shortage of about 10 percent of the cops needed in the department.
And that means the city’s police have to do more because there are fewer of them. And that can mean some of those non-emergency and low priority calls may have to wait. And that means the people who live in San Diego are not being served as well as they should.
Despite the cop shortage, there’s not a big rise in the crime rate and that’s a credit to all our city’s cops who are out there every day.
But the mayor and the city council have to find ways to put a stop this trend of not having a fully staffed police department.
What cops are paid in San Diego is less than other departments and with it being harder to be a cop these days, that has to be fixed if we want to make sure there are enough dedicated people willing to serve and protect us.