Blog: Facts About the Sierra Madre Police Department

I am a 15-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, and also a candidate for the Sierra Madre City Council.  Because of my law enforcement background I am often asked about my opinion on the .  

Recently, I spoke to several people who read on Patch that the Sierra Madre Police Department’s budget accounts for 53% of the General Fund (unrestricted revenues).  The bottom line is that they want to know why we spend so much money.  I want to take this opportunity to answer that question and to present some facts about our police department so that we as community members can be better informed.  

First and foremost, the citizens of Sierra Madre should understand that our police department actually receives a smaller share of the budget than the vast majority of cities and towns in America.  A recent national study shows that on average cities spend 75% of their general fund money on their police and fire departments. 

The cost of Sierra Madre’s Police and Fire departments combined is significantly below this average, only coming in around 60% of the General Fund. 

Furthermore, what politicians often fail to mention is that the General Fund is just a small amount of the overall budget, with the City’s total budget (unrestricted and restricted funds) being in the area of $24,000,000. 

In Sierra Madre, the police department’s budget is only $3.8 million, which accounts for 16% of total budget.  Given this analysis alone I do not believe the police department is significantly overfunded, although I also do not believe that any department in the city should be immune to budget cuts if necessary. 

The police department has 15 full-time sworn police officers.  This equates to 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents compared.  The statewide average is 2.4 officers per 1,000 people and 2.5 nationally.  This means that Sierra Madre has nearly 50% fewer police officers per resident than most cities and towns in California.  These facts prove that our department is not overstaffed.  To the contrary, Sierra Madre is understaffed compared to the state-wide average. 

Taken together, these undisputed facts show that our police department is able to maintain a safe environment for our citizens with a smaller staff and a leaner budget when compared to other police departments.  In other words, the Sierra Madre Police Department is extremely efficient and runs a smooth operation.

Nor does the relatively low cost and small staff reduce the quality of service provided.  One of the most important metrics used in measuring the quality of a police force is response time.  Imagine the difference a minute or two makes when someone is breaking into your house, or committing a robbery.  In Sierra Madre, our police department has phenomenal response times to emergencies such as assaults and other violent crime.  In fact, our department averages 2.01 minutes to respond to violent crime.  By way of comparison, the City of South Pasadena, which often brags about their police department’s rapid response time being one of the lowest in the state, has an average response time over 3 minutes.  Time and time again I have heard stories of how the 30-second response time of our police resulted in the capture of a burglar or saved the life of a choking baby. 

The question is often raised about the salary of the police officers of the Sierra Madre Police Department.  I will let you decide that for yourselves if they are over compensated, the below chart compares their pay versus other cities in the San Gabriel Valley as well as the Los Angeles Police Department.

Department

 Salary Range

  Range Average

Sierra Madre Police Officer

 $53,220 - $67,974

   $60,697 (0.0%)

South Pasadena Police Officer

 $56,748 - $68,976

   $62,862 (+3.4%)

San Marino Police Officer

 $60,876 - $74,256

   $67,566 (+10.1%)

El Monte Police Officer

 $62,000 - $76,100

   $69,050 (+12.0%)

Claremont Police Officer

 $63,300 - $76,476

   $69,888 (+13.1%)

Los Angeles Police Officer 

 $58,213 - $82,476

   $70,345 (+13.7%)

Covina Police Officer

 $62,364 - $81,619

   $71,991 (+15.7%)

Arcadia Police Officer

 $64,680 - $80,748

   $72,714 (+16.5%)

Comparing a police department to other departments within a city, such as Planning, Community and Personnel Services, is like comparing apples to oranges.  Most administrative departments within a city government are staffed 40 hours per week.  However, police departments must be staffed 168 hours per week (i.e., 24-hours a day, seven days a week).  Thus, their personnel requirements are far greater than say a public works department.  Their budget can therefore reasonably be expected to be four times that of other departments just for basic personnel costs alone. 

As a law enforcement officer I know first hand the importance of having minimal staffing.  If one officer makes an arrest, that leaves just one additional officer patrolling the streets.  This puts both the officer and community at greater risk.  If the officer gets into a fight and he or she does not have back-up, the chances of the officer getting hurt or the incident resulting in deadly force is significantly magnified.  The injury to one officer, or the cost of a civil suit due to the use of deadly force can quickly outstrip the costs of having a safe level of staffing on the streets.  I believe that current personnel costs of the Sierra Madre Police Department are adequate and consistent with best practices and cutting those costs would put us at an unnecessary risk. 

I believe that if you look closely enough in most organizations you will find that there are unnecessary costs and waste that can be ferreted out.  I believe this also holds true for the police department.  Strategies such as delaying the upgrade of certain equipment, and seeking grants for training are ways to reduce costs.  The most valuable tool, and often over-looked tool in reducing crime is an experienced and motivated police officer, and they are also expensive to replace.

Another point that has been brought up is that we should reduce our police force because crime is down.  This notion is flawed and does not take into account the preventive effect of police on the street.  What is considered an acceptable crime rate?  When you or a loved one is a victim, does that change your point-of-view?  Time and time again we see that when police departments are forced to cut the size of their sworn personnel there is an immediate jump in crime that follows.  By cutting the primary revenue source we rely on for our public safety, the User’s Utility Tax (UUT) we jeopardize our ability to fully fund our police and fire departments.  Draconian budget cuts will result in an unacceptable change to our safety in this town. One of the reasons we have such high property values is because Sierra Madre is such a safe place to live.  If the crime rate climbs, property values will decrease, which will impact our largest base for revenues, property taxes.  The bottom line is that the minimal savings we might extract from substantial cost to the police department’s budget will ultimately be outweighed by costs incurred through lower home prices and lower property taxes collected in a neighborhood that is not as safe as it used to be. 

As a final thought, I fully support candidate John Harabedian’s plan of establishing a Public Safety Commission.  Civilian oversight and input into the daily functions of a police and fire department is vital.  The Public Safety Commission can also review personnel complaints and uses of force to ensure we have a transparent department that is reacting to the needs of the community.  In addition, this body can come up with ways of reducing costs and helping to improve the relationship between the officers and the community. 

I hope these fact will help you better understand issues concerning the Sierra Madre Police Department.

If you would like more information about the Sierra Madre Police Department or my personal views on public safety in our city, please go to my campaign website: http://www.colin4cc.com/