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S.F. police commissioners warned of a possible 25% staffing drop as academy classes vanish; $5 million per class estimate given
Summary
Commissioners were told the SFPD could lose up to 25% of sworn officers over the next two years without additional academy classes. Interim CFO Deborah Landis and HR director Alice Fielding said roughly 100 officers retire annually, 479 are currently eligible to retire and one recruit class costs about $5 million.
The San Francisco Police Commission was warned Wednesday that the department could face a substantial drop in sworn staffing over the next two years unless the city funds additional recruit academies.
Interim Chief Financial Officer Deborah Landis told the commission the department projected “somewhere around a 100 retirements for next year,” and later estimated that in order to replace those losses the city would need to run at least two academy classes a year. Alice Fielding, the department’s human resources director, said 479 officers were currently eligible to retire and that that pool would grow to roughly 550–598 over the next two years.
The commission pressed officials on timing and cost. Landis and HR staff estimated a single 50-person recruit class would cost about $5,000,000 if started early in the fiscal year — roughly $4,000,000 for recruit salaries and about $1,000,000 for testing, backgrounds, uniforms, overtime for instructors and field training costs. Landis said the earlier in the fiscal year a class begins, the higher the salary-year cost; starting in mid-September would make the cost about $5 million for that class.
Chief Jeffrey Godin confirmed there was no money in the department’s FY2011–12 budget for hiring new officers. "There is no money in this budget, for any hiring of police officers in 02/2011, the fiscal 2011, 12," he told the commission. He and commissioners discussed shifting administrative staff to field duties, hiring laterals and pursuing limited federal grant funds for a small number of hires.
Commissioners raised logistical constraints: the department has two eligible candidate lists totaling 624 names that are due to expire in the fall, and HR said the background and vetting process typically eliminates a substantial share of candidates (Landis said roughly one in four who enter background are successful). Department staff also said attrition inside the academy and probationary periods can be 25–30%, meaning a single 50-person class might yield only about 35 new officers who reach the field.
Board members urged advocacy to the mayor’s office and the Board of Supervisors to fund at least one or two classes, citing public-safety impacts and upcoming events that will require staffing. They also discussed interim measures including hiring more laterals — officers already certified by other agencies who require far less academy time — and temporarily re-employing retirees on limited hours when funding allows.
Commissioners requested a clearer calendar and deadline for funding decisions so the department could determine whether candidate lists would remain valid and recruits could be assembled and vetted before they expired. Landis and HR staff said they would work with the commission to provide more precise timelines.
The commission did not take a formal vote on funding; the item was an informational status report and resulted in directions to staff to provide more details to commissioners on costs, timelines and candidate-list logistics.
