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Police chief asks to reallocate $175,000 to recruitment as committee reviews department budget
Summary
In the Budget & Finance Committee, the new police chief asked to reassign funds intended for a deputy chief toward recruitment and hiring to reduce overtime. Councilors pressed for documentation and cautioned about flexible 'other purchase services' spending in the department.
Chief (unnamed in transcript) presented the Police Department's proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget at the May 29 Budget and Finance Committee hearing, urging a reallocation of $175,000 that had been reserved for a deputy chief toward recruitment and hiring of patrol officers.
Chief said the department is budgeted for five captain positions but currently has four and described recruitment and restructuring as the top priority to reduce the department’s heavy reliance on overtime, which he said "usually hovers around $1,000,000." He told the committee reallocating the deputy chief line would help hire recruits and “reduce reliance on overtime.” The committee also discussed several nonunion raises included in the mayor’s recommendation, including salary increases for the director of support services and the director of police and community relations.
Councilors pressed the chief and CAFO staff on several budget lines. Council President Rodriguez and Councilor Luzon asked for guarantees that any nonunion raises tied to extra duties be memorialized in memoranda of understanding (MOUs). Councilor Marmol requested historical spending detail for the department’s professional-services and other-purchase-services accounts after departments moved funds between object codes to gain flexibility; Acting CAFO Ramona Ceballos explained transfers within "purchase-of-services" require finance/ mayoral approval but moving funds into or out of "professional services" needs council approval and could delay invoices.
The chief said vehicle replacements and auctions would follow the fleet manager’s guidance, that aged marked vehicles would be taken out and offered for auction, and that the department planned to extract maximum useful life from older units. Councilors also pressed the chief to provide vehicle-condition and expenditure records. Chief reported the department is budgeted for 35 patrol positions but currently has 109 sworn officers, leaving the department "26 officers short." He and councilors discussed moving the deputy chief budget to front-line patrol if that is administratively possible.
