Six new police officers are patrolling Morgan Hill’s streets,
but only three of them are filling new positions, as the number of
sworn officers in the Morgan Hill Police Department was increased
from 35 to 38 this year.
Morgan Hill
Six new police officers are patrolling Morgan Hill’s streets, but only three of them are filling new positions, as the number of sworn officers in the Morgan Hill Police Department was increased from 35 to 38 this year.
Sara Alanis, 26, and Brandon Richards, 26, have been in the department for at least a year. Mario Ramirez, Scott Purvis, 33, Miguel Masso, 30, and Luis Espejo, 36, have all been with the department for less than a year.
Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing said the department has a budget for 38 sworn officers, but three of those are administrative positions while eight are special operations officers, so only 27 positions are allocated to patrol duties.
Right now, Swing said, four of the officers are out on medical leave.
To support the four teams of officers that work 12-hour shifts, the department needs 20 officers, but now has 18 working.
The annual salary for an officer is approximately $72,000.
Police Chief Bruce Cumming said that though staffing is improving, the department still has the lowest officer to population ratio in the county.
“We’re making some progress, the City Council approved three new positions this year,” he said. “I’m encouraged that we’re moving in the right direction … The cushion is very flat right now, the cushion is losing air.”
The chief said the “cushion” is having officers available to fill in when other officers are out on leave, in training or sick.
“Several are banged up and bruised, and it poses some real challenges for us, causes us to extend overtime , and it continues to be a concern of mine,” he said. “Fortunately in the last few years we haven’t had many long term issues.”
As they hire officers, Cumming said, there is a trend that is good for the city.
“The new thing that has happened in the last couple of years, it’s very encouraging, when officers are hired from other organizations, they save the city enormous amounts in terms of dollars and cents, $30-40,000 right off the top in training costs,” he said. “Plus, they bring the experience to us. It’s a win-win situation that we haven’t had in the past. I am encouraged by the way things are going. The council has shown a sincere and serious concern about the staffing, and that’s great.”
Most of the new officers have prior experience with other departments. Richards came to the department from the Gilroy Police Department, while Espejo comes from the Watsonville Police Department and Masso from the New York Police Department. Purvis was working for the Santa Clara County Department of Corrections before coming to the MHPD and spent some time as a reserve police officer for the city of Santa Clara.
Another positive aspect of the new officers is that several of them are bilingual, Swing pointed out.
“We have been very fortunate in the recent past,” Swing said. “We’ve had a fairly large applicant pool. We don’t interview everyone, we have enough applicants to be selective. We give priority to people who give the best value. Those who are bilingual, those who have prior experience … more than the basic qualifications, those are the ones we choose to interview.”
The time between when an officer is hired and when he or she is actually out on the streets can be quite long, Swing said. It can take up to a year for a rookie to get out on the streets, with extensive background checks, time at the academy – the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium – not to mention field training with another officer.
“If they have prior experience, that can be compressed because we can draw on their other experiences,” Swing said. “From an officer’s perspective, it’s a memorable day when they get into a police car by themselves and don’t see a field training officer there. It’s very rewarding.”
All of the officers, except for Masso, have completed their field training and are patrolling Morgan Hill on their own.
The department is pleased to welcome the new officers, Swing said.
“It’s exciting because I think they’re all going to be great officers,” he said. “They will add an increased level of service for the community.”
