Sheriff's officials: Budget crisis may affect public safety

SAN BERNARDINO — A budgeting error has led top San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials to immediately halt unapproved overtime for all personnel in the county, stretching local law enforcement to dangerous staffing levels, according to an internal memo obtained by the Daily Press.

The overtime freeze has created a series of staffing shortages around the county, prompting many officials to question their ability to thoroughly work cases, as well as inciting concern for their own safety as well as that of the public.

Officials have said that deputies are being moved from county stations — where there is not enough funding for regular patrols — to contract city stations such as those in Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville where cities have the funds to pay for the positions.

In the jails, they are at critical staffing levels, just meeting the state requirements. At the Glen Helen Correctional Facility in Devore — a dormitory-style jail with no bars keeping deputies from inmates — they went from three or four deputies per 360 inmates to two, and sometimes one, sources within the jail said.

“They got rid of the kitchen deputy, so we’ve got civilian cooks who are afraid to come out of their office because there are 30 inmates walking around with knives,” one deputy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. “They are penny-pinching to the point where it’s not safe to go to work anymore. They’ve actually told us if the inmates get out of hand, just get to the nearest door and get out.”

Undersheriff Richard Beemer, who penned the interoffice memo to station and division commanders, said that the positions in the jail that have been cut were positions that were never authorized positions to begin with. Their elimination in no way puts deputies or civilians in danger, he said.

“Their comfort level may be down because we have been putting deputies out there in recent years, but it’s no different than it has been in the past,” Beemer said. “Law enforcement, by its very nature, is very dangerous.”

Beemer said the fact that deputies have been transferred from county-run stations to those in contract cities is not a reflection of the budgeting problems. He said that growth spurts in large cities like Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga have led to the need for more deputies, while there is a lack of growth in unincorporated areas.

“We’re trying to balance the needs of the cities versus the needs of the counties,” Beemer said. “A place like Barstow, their work load is such that they can absorb a vacancy there.”

One sheriff’s sergeant asked whether that meant crime was down in Barstow.

“The fact is the department went to the Board of Supervisors at one point and made a case for why that position was needed in Barstow, and they funded it. Now suddenly we don’t need that position?”

The memo directly addresses the issue of “back-filling,” which is calling someone in from a day off to fill in, should a scheduled deputy call in sick. That has been a standard practice for law enforcement to maintain staffing levels for each shift.

Now, for example, if five deputies are scheduled for a day shift, and two call in sick, it will leave three deputies to do the work of all five.

In the jails, the unnamed deputy said, they were told not to call in sick because “you would be letting your co-workers down.”

While maintaining service levels for emergencies will not change, Beemer conceded that due to back-filling restrictions and other changes, response times to non-priority calls may increase as a result of this policy.

“When you’re the victim of a burglary you don’t want to hear that we don’t have time to investigate that. It’s such a violation of their privacy and it’s a major event in their life. They will undoubtedly ask what took us so long, and all we can say is ‘this isn’t a priority.’ Well, it’s a priority to them,” said a second sergeant in the department who wished to remain anonymous.

Beemer said the budgeting problem was the result of a miscalculation of funds that were to come in from sales taxes this year. In the memo, he wrote that since July 1, projections show that this year was on track to far exceed the budgeted amount for overtime.

“You can’t always project revenues absolutely, and do your best to deal with a $420 million annual budget,” Beemer said.

He added that he shared concerns deputies would take the decision as a slight because of the financial impact, but said that there should have been restrictions in place previously to keep deputies from working unnecessary overtime.

“The effect of these overtime controls is bound to have an impact on employee morale,” Beemer wrote in the memo.

Bill Abernathy, president of the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association — which is the recognized bargaining association for law enforcement personnel — said that he met with Beemer on Thursday regarding those employee concerns.

“I reiterated to them that they maintain a safe level so we don’t end up with officer safety issues because we lack the manpower to do the job in an adequate and safe manner,” Abernathy said. “Still, the department has the right to set their staffing levels as they see fit.”

Abernathy added that he does not believe the decision is currently making the streets, or the deputies, any less safe.

Officials said there seems to be no quick-fix for the budget problem.

When asked whether the Board of Supervisors would come up with additional funds to relieve some of the money-crunching, David Wert, San Bernardino County spokesman, said no one from the Sheriff’s Department had indicated there was a budget crisis.

He added: “The Board of Supervisors is not in the practice of offering to fix problems they are not aware of.”

First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt had no comment on the issue.

Beemer said that the overtime restrictions is just good fiscal management and said that he anticipates no change in the current directive until the beginning of the next fiscal year, in about eight months.