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Council debates police headcount amid larger PD budget request
Summary
Council members and the police chief debated sworn‑staffing targets during presentation of the police budget, signaling a direction to cap hires at 66 even as the proposed budget is built to 67 to reflect recruitment realities and overtime needs.
El Segundo City staff presented a police department budget that would increase by roughly 10% next year, driven largely by overtime, pension and benefits (UAL) increases and requests for cadet positions and reclassifications.
"It's 67," the finance presenter said when asked which staffing number was used to calculate the personnel budget. The police chief told council the department is operating with vacancies, trainees and employees on leave and that the proposed 67 sworn positions reflect an over‑hire strategy to address long pipeline and retention issues.
Council members debated whether to set a hiring cap at 66. Several members said they preferred a hard cap of 66 for hiring even if the budget is modeled at 67 to accommodate ongoing recruitment and accounting. "I think the preponderance and the majority of us or 4 of us are saying let's hold it at 66 and not set it at 67," the mayor said.
The chief and staff described substantial overtime needs related to special events, reimbursable work, mutual aid and staffing for high‑risk targets. Staff also noted that some reimbursable overtime comes back to the general fund rather than to the police overtime line, and agreed to make that delta clearer in future budget materials.
Council did not take a formal vote on the headcount in the study session; staff said they would “clean up” the numbers and present a clarified budget for adoption on June 2.
