THE DEATH OF PUBLIC SAFETY PART ONE

Public Services generally do not generate revenue. They are paid for by taxes, bonds and grants. In 1978 California passed Proposition 13 which altered the amount of revenue obtained by governments. The math of 1978 related to the population of 1978; the state population is now 33 million.

Californians have a high level of expectation from public services. Consequently, they pay more for those services. Other areas of the country have a lower expectation of services, like water/sewer, or need only a few deputies in a county. Low expectation equals low cost.

California has reached a point where its expectations outpace the available fiscal resources. Cops refer to it as “Cadillac service on a Volkswagen budget”. This happens cyclically, along general economic lines. It can be exacerbated by poor leadership.

Stockton has issues unique to that city. They did not pay into the public employee’s retirement system (PERS) and built a stadium type complex. They built a marina. On the day they laid off 50 police officers the city council allocated 1 million dollars for a snack bar.

In Stockton, it’s not a bad idea to have concerns about the efficacy of law enforcement services. The department has been cut anywhere between 25%-40%. They cut 25% initially and gave a 30% pay cut to those that remained. A vast number of officers left.

The ones that remain, although they might be viewed as loyal, often are there because they can’t go anywhere else! Police Officers have to pass a polygraph test to get hired. They are never again given a polygraph test and cannot be compelled under threat of termination to take one. However, if they leave and go to another agency, they have to go through a full background, just like everyone else. Police agencies know that people leave an employer to go to another one, within the same occupation, when they’ve screwed up at work or otherwise burned bridges. 

They are there do to Brady Violations. A Brady violation means an officer’s credibility has been successfully challenged. There are many reasons this can happen. The reason might not merit termination, but will be enough to eliminate them from the employment competition pool.

Corruption flourishes when power is combined with low pay. Stockton should take heed. They have also become a minor league police department. By definition, they will have to hire eventually to replenish their loss. They have nothing to offer a qualified lateral officer. The only people they’ll recruit are new hires. A peace officer after one year obtains a basic certificate from POST, an oversight agency. Once they have a POST basic certificate and complete probation, they’ll leave and go to another agency for adequate pay. That’s just the nature of work. If Store A pays $40.00 per hour while Store B pays $25.00 for exactly the same work, most people will work at store B to make ends meet and to get their foot-in-the-door, but will leave the minute they can, for Store A.

But, are we headed towards anarchy? Probably not in our lifetime, but conditions are going to deteriorate significantly over coming decades, primarily due to the exhaustion of finite natural resources.