In these economy times, laid-offs and cutbacks are becoming a reality throughout the entire American economic system. Usually, these problems only affect the private sector, but now it is beginning to affect vital government positions such as local police departments.
This is happening now with police and sheriff departments throughout the greater Los Angeles area. The numbers vary, but many police departments from Los Angeles County to Orange County are reporting tight budgets, skeleton staffing, and the need to stop hiring and even threatening to laid-off officers, dispatchers, and other dependent emergency personnel.
To make matters worst, the federal grants that were said to be available to all police departments through the last federal stimulus package are being denied at an alarming rate. Two of the most prominent police agencies in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area, the Los Angeles and Orange County Sheriff's Departments have seen this reality first hand.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) is the biggest sheriff's department in the United States. The agency is not only responsible for the largest jail system in the country, but perhaps the biggest patrolling area of any police agency in the world. LASD has contracts with 40 cities throughout the county that do not, or cannot afford, city departments. Therefore, the department hoped to get needed funds to assist their contracted cities by increasing patrols and retaining jobs.
The department recently applied for funds from the federal stimulus plan: COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRPA). The CHRPA was designed to help local police agencies with about $1 billion in funds to create and preserve jobs police officer jobs. However, LASD was denied the grant funds and is now being told by the county's board of supervisors to start cutting back on their future endeavors.
Luckily, for LASD, at this time, there is no need to lay-off any staff or personnel, but department officials are still wary about the future, especially with the county government wanting to cut funding more.
LASD's biggest fear is already happening in Orange County.
Orange County has been preparing for a potential short fall of funds. This has prompted the board of supervisors to start their looking into which agencies have the biggest budgets. This is unfortunately is the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) and other county law enforcement agencies.
This year alone, Orange County's Sheriff Sandra Hutchens was told that she must cut $28 million this fiscal year. Next year, the estimates are for another $60 million dollars. This has caused many employees to worry if they would have jobs soon or be laid-off.
Faced with reality that lay-offs were imminent, Sheriff Hutchens looked for ways to cut, and ultimately decided that to save the jobs of the staff and sworn personnel first by cutting the number of assistance sheriffs and captains so that deputies and support staff would be able to retain their jobs through the end of the year. Although this is a noble effort, the cuts will most likely continue just to meet the demands of the county's board of supervisors.
The fear and reality of police personnel being laid-off is coming true to two of the biggest and more prominent police agencies in America. As they struggle to retain positions and personnel, other local agencies are feeling the pinch too that can be directly related to the struggles and the problems associated with this economic downturn.
On her website, Representative Lorena Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) promoted her funds accusation for the city of Santa Ana Police but still stated that "[other agencies such as] the Orange County Sheriff's Department and Anaheim, Fullerton, and Garden Grove police departments are all outstanding and equally deserving of funding."
Therefore, if this current trends continue, we might see more hiring freezes, less officers on the streets, and greater lay-offs of police personnel in the months to come. Eventually, it might be only a matter of time when the people begin to wonder whether if the government even cares about their safety.
