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Escondido police chief proposes five-division restructure to boost traffic and school safety
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Summary
Chief Ken Plunkett told the City Council the department will move from three to five divisions, creating a Community Enhancement Division that combines traffic enforcement, special enforcement teams and SRO supervision, increases night/weekend coverage and adds management positions to improve oversight.
Ken Plunkett, Escondido's police chief, presented a first-phase plan to restructure the police department and said the changes are intended to improve public safety, officer wellness and operational oversight. "The purpose of this presentation is to present the beginning phase of a working plan for the police department aimed at meeting the needs of our community," Plunkett said during the council meeting.
Under the proposal, the department would expand from three divisions into five, adding a Community Enhancement Division that consolidates the COPS team, gang and narcotics enforcement and traffic functions into one command. Plunkett said the reorganization is designed to spread collateral duties more equitably, add supervisory positions and create special-assignment career tracks to reduce management overload.
Plunkett outlined operational changes that he said will increase visible patrol during peak hours and improve response: an updated patrol deployment schedule with added night and weekend staffing, a move toward sector-area policing with lieutenants assigned to geographic sectors, and a traffic unit that would comprise seven motor officers plus three school-resource officers under a traffic sergeant for a total of 10 officers dedicated to traffic and school safety.
The chief also tied the restructure to technology and policy improvements. He said the department is moving its policy manual to Lexipol, is implementing a new computer-aided dispatch system and is evaluating newer body cameras and drones for officer safety and investigative work. Plunkett warned that some projects, such as CAD replacement, could take up to a year to implement and will require management bandwidth.
Council members welcomed the direction. One council member called the proposal "brilliant" and said the plan's focus on supervision and sector access would build trust and accountability; another emphasized the value of adding staffing at high-accident intersections and praised the department's community outreach at local schools.
Plunkett said the restructuring is intended as a first step and that personnel reclassifications and budget conversations would follow. He repeatedly framed the plan as designed to make the department more efficient with existing resources while creating a structure that would accommodate future staffing growth.
The council did not take a formal vote on the restructuring itself; members asked staff to return with follow-up budget details and implementation timing as part of the upcoming budget and staffing discussions.
