New hires address grand jury staffing concerns
September
2, 2014
The
Turlock Journal
By Sabra
Stafford, Crime Desk
The Turlock Police Department
welcomed a new officer Tuesday morning and introduced three new recruits headed
to the police academy as the department works to increase the ranks after being
chided by the grand jury for staff shortages.
The police department held a
swearing-in ceremony for Hiram Duncan, who comes to Turlock after a year and a
half with the Fresno Police Department and four years as a fraud investigator
for the Kings County welfare department.
Duncan is one of the lateral
hires the Turlock Police Department and Turlock Associated Police Officers had
been hoping to find in an ongoing effort to fill several vacancies. The department
is allocated for 74 sworn personnel, but has been operating at minimum staffing
levels for some time now.
The police officers union has
been very vocal in its displeasure of the staffing shortage at the police
department and the organization's argument received a bolster from the
Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury when it faulted the department for not
having enough officers.
In March of this year, eight
members of the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury participated in ride-alongs
with police officers to see how the department interacted with the community.
In the official findings, the
grand jury found the police department to be staffed with knowledgeable
officers who showed great problem solving skills. However, the grand jury found
that the department was operating under a staffing shortage, which was leading
to longer shifts and more overtime for the officers.
The grand jury recommended the
police department utilize more effective recruitment practices and offer
“better benefits to attract qualified candidates.”
In a written response to the
grand jury, Turlock Police Chief Rob Jackson explained the department was short
five vacant sworn officer positions, as well as temporary vacancies from four
long-term injuries. In addition to those vacancies, the police department had
to cut seven positions over the last two years because of budget cuts and the
loss of a federal grant, Jackson stated in his letter.
Jackson stated the department
had already been making efforts to find qualified candidates that they could
send through the police academy. The department received more than 450
applications from individuals hoping to join the police department. Of those,
the department selected three candidates — Alfred Velasquez, Emanuel Moles, and
Adam Neep — to send to the next round of training at the police academy
starting this month. It takes on average six months to complete academy
training and then another six months of on the job training.
“There will be more faces to
come,” Jackson said at Tuesday’s ceremony. “We’re looking forward to filling
all our vacancies.”
Jackson took exception to the
grand jury’s findings that the police department needed to offer a better
benefit package and stated if the grand jury had done some further research
they would have seen the health care package “is better than any comparison
cities in our area,” Jackson wrote.
The City of Turlock, with a
population around 70,000 lists the monthly salary for an officer between $3,916
and $5,510 a month. The benefit package includes a fully paid health plan for
the employee and their family; term life insurance at one and a half times
their salary; and long term disability insurance. New police officers
participate in the Public Employees Retirement System at a range of about 9
percent. In Manteca, which has a population around 71,000, the pay range is
$5,713 to $6,940 and full-time employees receive medical, hospital, dental,
long-term disability, life, and vision insurance. In Merced, with a population
of about 80,000, the pay rate is between $4,512 and $5,485 and they provide
around $604 per pay period for insurance.
In addition to the new recruits
and Duncan, the police department has hired Rochelle Segarini as a Community
Services Officer. She has seven years experience with the Stanislaus County
Sheriff’s Department and the Stanislaus County Community Services Agency.
Amanda Fortado, who has been
with the police department since 2012, has been promoted to Business Analyst.
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