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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
Merced County Grand Jury
• 2016-2017
Merced Sheriff’s Department Compensation Package
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 3 findings
F1
Page 46
Merced County is ranked the 8th most ‘dangerous’ county in the State of California. Response: Since the approval of Assembly Bill 109 in 2011, Merced County has been forced to house violent offenders at our local jails who would have previously been sentenced to prison. Due to capacity constraints, other criminals are often cited and released or released early from jail. We believe that has a major impact on violent crime statistics in our community. For example, Merced County recorded 31 homicides in 2015, and a large majority of those were gang-related because it is increasingly difficult to keep gang members off the streets. Those challenges are only exacerbated by reduced staffing levels. However, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to address these issues. Our department collaborates with the Merced County Probation Department to provide programming for inmates who are set to be released into the community. The program teaches life skills designed to reduce recidivism.
F2
Page 46
Merced County Sheriff’s Department does not have the funding or staffing to sustain a gang unit. Response: It is true that due to numerous vacancies, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office does not have adequate staffing to sustain a gang unit. Deputies had to be pulled from many specialized units within the department to staff patrol. As we are able to fill our vacancies, a gang/street crimes unit will be created. The Sheriff’s Office currently has one deputy assigned to the multi-agency gang task force.
F3
Page 46
Merced County Sheriff’s Department has the lowest take home pay for the deputies compared to their counterparts in neighboring counties.
Recommendations 3
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R1Page 45That the Board of Supervisors negotiate with the Merced County Deputy Sheriff’s Association in an attempt to restructure the compensation package for competitive wages and benefits to retain and attract new deputies to Merced County.
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R2Page 45That the Board of Supervisors work with the Deputy Sheriff’s Association to negotiate retirement contribution options.
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R3Page 45Increase staffing beyond the current allocation of 44 deputies to allow for night and weekend back-up, a decrease in response time and better coverage in rural areas. REQUESTED RESPONSE(S) Merced County Board of Supervisors “Law enforcement and our local justice system play a vital role in our communities, and the Board of Supervisors sincerely appreciates the work and efforts made by all public safety departments. Gang activity and violent crime in our area are issues we will continue to work on under the guidance of our elected public safety leaders. Efforts have been made to add more resources toward combatting gang activity and violent crime. The Board of Supervisors worked alongside the District Attorney and other public safety partners to express support for the Violence Interruption/Prevention Emergence Response (VIPER) Program, and thanks to the efforts of Senator Anthony Canella and Assemblyman Adam Gray, this intelligence-gathering program was awarded $4.5 million in funding from the state over three years. To show local commitment, the Board committed to and provided a local 10 percent match toward the program. Regarding Deputy pay, the County recently reached agreement with the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association that provides for a 10 percent base wage increase for deputies, plus several other economic items that could provide an additional 2 to 5 percent increase for most deputies. When factoring in salary and benefits, Merced County continues to be competitive compared to surrounding Valley counties. While the pay increase will hopefully help retain and attract qualified deputies, the Board recognizes that this issue needs to be addressed with a holistic approach. In order to assist both the Sheriff and District Attorney in their efforts, the Board has allocated 27 positions to the departments. To address the high number of vacancies at the Sheriff’s Department, the Board worked collaboratively with the Sheriff to establish an Extra-Help Sheriff Trainee Program as a recruitment tool to attract applicants. The Board is willing to explore other possible options as well. After an extensive review of gang and homicide incidents in the unincorporated areas, the Sheriff recommended, and the Board added, four Deputy Sheriffs to provide a primary focus on gang issues in unincorporated communities. With the recent collaborative 46 countywide effort consolidating the High Intensity Drug Traffic Area (HIDTA) and Gang taskforces into the Merced Area Gang/Narcotic Enforcement Team (MAGNET), the Board added an Investigative Assistant to aid in the development of a countywide analytical unit. While it is common to traditionally have eight or more vacant deputy positions, deputy staffing has not dropped to 44 deputies. There are currently 79 deputy sheriff-coroner positions, which is more than the 78 positions that were budgeted for the department prior to the recession in Fiscal Year 2007-2008. The vacancy rate at the Sheriff’s Office does periodically fluctuate, but with the increase to positions, the number of personnel at the department is in line with historical averages.” Merced County Sheriff “In response to the Grand Jury Internal Investigation 15-09-30, I offer the following information: