Modesto Police Shifting Patrols As Dozens Of Officers Leave Department
MODESTO (CBS13) — The Modesto Police Department is facing a shortage of police officers as part of a trend where the department says it's losing officers to better paying jobs.
The department plans to shift some officers from school and shopping mall posts and putting them back on street patrol.
Very few officers could be found at Modesto Police headquarters on Monday as almost all on-duty officers were out on patrol.
Since 2008, the department has lost 25 percent of its staff. In December, 12 officers announced they were retiring, while an additional dozen officers say they were leaving Modesto for better paying police jobs in the Bay Area.
"We're allocated 209 officers and right now we're about about in the mid-170s," said police spokeswoman Heather Graves.
To make up for the officer exodus, the department is pulling officers from Modesto schools, the Vintage Faire Mall, the housing authority and the gang task force.
"The main focus is going to be patrol," Graves said. "That is our core function of the police department, it's patrol."
The mall has its own security guards, but the school district was given 30 days notice that the four officers were leaving the high schools. The school district has since hired an additional campus supervisor at each school campus. It's also asking the board of Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors for more help.
"A new employee, who's a step up from the campus supervisor who has additional training in restraint techniques and use of handcuffs," said schools spokeswoman Becky Fortuna.
As officers are moved to fill vacancies, will taxpayers end up paying more overtime to police officers?
"We are spending a lot of money in overtime," Graves said.
BUt it's on a volunteer basis, and the police department says they will be patrolling near the sites they left in order to respond quickly if there is a call for help.
Modesto Police says it has four new hires in field training right now. The department says it is actively recruiting, but academy training often takes a year or more to put a new officer on the street.