TITLE
Recommendation to receive a report on funding options for conducting Police Officer academies in Fiscal Year 2010, and receive City Council direction. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On February 2, 2010, the Police Department provided a staffing update and academy cost estimates to the City Council. In response to that update, the City Council requested a report regarding Police and Fire staffing levels and options for convening Police and Fire academies in the current fiscal year. On February 23, 2010, a memo was sent to the City Council highlighting the options to conduct academies in the current fiscal year. On March 9, 2010, the City Council requested the City Manager to begin the recruitment and testing immediately to establish a lateral and new recruit eligibility list to support a full drill Fire academy in January 2011. Therefore, the information below presents cost estimates and funding options for both lateral Police Officer and traditional Police Recruit academies, as requested by the City Council.
Police Staffing
Sworn police staffing is budgeted for FY 10 at 944 positions excluding 17 Police Recruit positions, which are not funded in FY 10. As of February 2010, the Police Department reported 21 sworn vacancies. Two additional vacancies have recently occurred, for a current total of 23 sworn vacancies. As noted during the budget development process, not all sworn vacancies impact front-line public safety seNices, or "boots on the street." The Police Department indicates that these 23 vacancies are being carried in nonemergency response positions, or are being backfilled with the use of overtime. Therefore, to the Police Department's credit, front-line emergency response has remained unaffected.
The 23 current vacancies translate into a sworn vacancy rate of 2.4 percent for the month of February 2010. To provide some context, the Police Department's average annual vacancy rates for the past few years are shown below.
FY 06 - 4.6% FY 07 - 2.3% ...
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