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Emeryville study session lays out police staffing and traffic‑unit gaps, recommends five‑year roadmap
Summary
An independent assessment presented to Emeryville City Council found 21 recommendations for the police department, recommending five non‑sworn positions and several sworn roles—highlighting an understaffed traffic unit and calling for cost analyses before hiring.
Chief Jennings and consultant Joseph Kriens presented an organizational assessment of the Emeryville Police Department at a council study session, describing an 80‑page report intended to guide the department for the next five years.
Kriens said his team conducted more than 25 staff interviews and reviewed over 100 documents to produce a snapshot of the department. “We recommended 21 overall recommendations,” Kriens said, and identified both non‑sworn and sworn staffing gaps. He recommended five additional non‑sworn positions—dispatch, administrative analyst, records technician, property and evidence technician, and a management analyst—and five sworn roles, including a traffic sergeant and three traffic officers to form a functioning traffic unit.
The report noted the department generally has an adequate number of sworn officers except in traffic enforcement. Kriens described the traffic function as “not simply about enforcement” but requiring engineering, education and enforcement; he said the department currently has “one motorcycle officer” and little support for traffic operations.
Council members pressed on implementation and budget implications. Member Solomon asked the chief and consultant to return with a plan for prioritizing recommendations and funding. Chief Jennings said staff is pursuing internal restructuring and cross‑training as immediate low‑cost steps and has vacated a professional staff slot to enable an upgrade.
On technology, Mayor Mora asked whether better digital tools (such as online parking payments and records management) could reduce the need for staff. Kriens acknowledged technology can help but said “when you literally only have one person working in your records unit” the limits are real: even good technology cannot replace sufficient staffing.
The study session was informational; no formal action was taken. Council members thanked staff for the report and directed staff to return with cost and implementation priorities to align hires with the city’s budget and anticipated growth.
