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Desert Hot Springs council backs plan to grow police ranks to 45 sworn officers over five years
Summary
Following a POST staffing study, the council directed staff to draft a resolution establishing a goal of 45 sworn officers — to be achieved by hiring two officers per year — and accepted a funding trigger tied to public-safety parcel tax revenues.
The Desert Hot Springs City Council on July 7 voted unanimously to direct staff to draft a resolution establishing a target sworn staffing level of 45 officers to be achieved by hiring two sworn officers per fiscal year over the next five years.
Chief Shaw (S5) summarized a POST (Peace Officers Standards and Training) organizational review that estimated a minimum of 37 sworn officers is required to meet current call volumes and recommended additional positions for administration, task forces, traffic and community response. The chief noted the department has historically budgeted 33 sworn positions and has reduced vacancies through recent recruiting; the department currently has 34 sworn officers with two in the academy.
The council asked about funding and long‑term triggers. The proposed approach links additional hires to increases in public-safety parcel tax revenues: for every $500,000 increment in parcel-tax revenues the city would authorize one additional sworn position or police operations position, allowing gradual growth aligned with revenue. Councilmembers praised the data-driven approach and asked staff to bring a resolution in the fall.
Public comment included support from the Fraternal Order of Police and other law-enforcement representatives, who lauded the data-driven recommendations and said the plan would improve patrol coverage and reduce overtime.
What happens next: staff will draft a resolution reflecting the 45‑officer target and the parcel‑tax revenue trigger and return to council for formal adoption.
