Hiring four additional patrol officers, two police supervisors,
plus additional support staff at the Morgan Hill Police Department
are some of the recommendations in a report Police Chief Bruce has
presented to city officials.
Morgan Hill – Hiring four additional patrol officers, two police supervisors, plus additional support staff at the Morgan Hill Police Department are some of the recommendations in a report Police Chief Bruce has presented to city officials.
The city’s Public Safety and Community Services Committee has been reviewing the 27-page report in response to a goal created by the council to examine public safety services in the city.
“We don’t need sworn police officers to do everything, however there are clearly needs for sworn officers,” he said. “There are some things that just can’t be done by other people, you can’t diminish that fact. You can’t send unarmed citizens to handle domestic violence calls, as well as other things. I have felt and continue to feel that we need more officers.”
According to statistics compiled for the report and verified by Cumming, MHPD has the lowest number of sworn officers per 1,000 residents in the area. For each 1,000 Morgan Hill residents, there are .96 officers. In Gilroy, there are 1.38 officers for every 1,000 residents, while in San Jose, there are 1.48 per 1,000. The highest ratio around is in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, each with 1.61 officers per 1,000 residents.
Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr, who sits on the committee reviewing the report, said there are other factors to consider besides the statistics.
“Some people want to point to a certain number of officers to number of the population, but when you look at different surveys done over the years, the public’s perception of that, the police department is always rated extremely high,” he said. “People do feel safe in Morgan Hill.”
Once the committee has digested the report, along with another 18-page report prepared by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, Carr said, the committee could make a recommendation to the whole council. The committee is reviewing both reports.
The MHPD asked POST to prepare the second report, which was completed last May. The POST report analyzed the department’s staffing levels and concurs with Cumming’s findings that more help is needed in the public safety sector.
“Certainly the recommendation could be that we do nothing in terms of staffing,” Carr said. “Alternatively, perhaps there is a recommendation to increase staffing. I don’t know if that will mean augmenting the police department in a way that allows for more officers, whether patrol officers or non-sworn personnel, or if means using the RDA to clean up geographical areas that are trouble spots. It could be something like looking at how we use our recreation facilities for certain age groups, perhaps offering things in certain ways to keep kids out of trouble.”
The committee has just begun to study the situation, he said, and by reviewing the two reports and focusing discussions on looking at all the possibilities, the committee can then come up with a recommendation.
They hope to have something for the council in May, Carr added.
Cumming said his recommendations about staffing are not an attempt “to staff the department for Armageddon.”
“But there’s no denying that without full staffing, you cut corners in the service you can give to the community,” he added. “There’s just no way around that. For example, our officers don’t respond to medical calls, because we just don’t have the staffing levels to do so. And that’s a pity, because many times we can get there sooner.”
Cumming also said more officers on duty would help balance the load when injuries occur or vacations, sick leave or maternity/paternity leaves come about.
