It is difficult to understand why people, especially officers from other California cities or other states, wouldn’t want to work at the SBPD. The crime rate is low, and S.B. is an ideal place to work and live. I am told that the pay and benefits are pretty good.
Where is the recruiting taking place? What efforts and money are being spent to recruit young men and women? How many people apply to work at SBPD?
Have ads been taken out in newspapers or law enforcement magazines throughout the nation? Who is doing the recruiting, and do they have a budget to do so?
The local media always seems to parrot what they are told by the SBPD, that they have not filled these slots, but they never give specific reasons on why?
Nobody seems to be asking these questions and according to news reports, public safety is at stake.
The rate of sworn officers was 2.4 per 1,000 inhabitants in the nation in 2011. The rate of full-time law enforcement employees (civilian and sworn) per 1,000 inhabitants was 3.4, according to the FBI.
How does Santa Barbara stack up?