Monterey County, California Tina M. Nieto 's Office Sheriff-Coroner Keeping the peace since 1850 July 6, 2023 Honorable*

The Sheriff's Office staffing is insufficient to respond to the number of noise complaints. I partially disagree with this finding. Response: At the time of the writing of this response the Sheriff's Office had 22 vacant sworn positions across the ranks of deputy sheriff, sheriff's sergeant, and sheriff's commander with 16 of those positions located in the Enforcement Operations Bureau whose personnel respond to the noise complaints. In addition, since Fiscal Year 2015 the Sheriff's Office has seen a reduction of its budgeted staffing allocation by the Board of Supervisors eliminating or defunding a total of 13 sworn positions with the majority of those eliminated positions cut from the Enforcement Operations Bureau. During the Fiscal Year 24 budget process the Sheriff's Office was granted authorization by the Board of Supervisors to restore 7 of the sworn positions which were previously eliminated, but those 7 positions will be allocated to the Corrections Operations Bureau due to the Hernandez Federal Settlement. The Sheriff's Office has implemented a process to increase the number of deputy sheriffs assigned to the Enforcement Operations Bureau through the hiring of lateral peace officers who can be deployed to the Enforcement Operations Bureau immediately or the hiring and training of deputy sheriffs to backfill the transfer of deputy sheriffs from the Corrections Operations Bureau to the Enforcement Operations Bureau. At this time, it is difficult to agree or wholly disagree with your finding so I must partially disagree as the 16 vacancies in the existing budgeted levels make it difficult to determine if the budgeted sworn staff allocation is sufficient to respond to the number of noise complaints. Because the MCSO considers noise complaints a lower priority than life, safety, and property

calls, they are often unable to respond in a timely manner to noise complaints. Response: I agree with your finding. 1414 Natividad Road, Salinas CA 93906 (831) 755-3700 www.montereysheriff.org MONTEREY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Tina M. Nieto FF'S OFFICE Sheriff-Coroner Keeping the peace since 1850 The Sheriff's Office contracts dispatch services with the Monterey County Emergency Communications Department. The Communications Department utilizes a computer aided dispatch system which prioritizes call for service based on the nature of the call. Response to noise complaints is prioritized after higher priority calls relating to crimes of violence and crimes of property leading to delays in response by staff.

Certain property owners are knowingly renting their land to others who host large, for profit, public events without proper permits, causing nuisance and safety issues to adjacent residents. I agree with this finding. Response:

MCSO has an effective working relationship with CHP to patrol roads within unincorporated areas, providing an opportunity to acquire assistance with the road-related repercussions of large, unpermitted events. I agree with this finding. Response: Once a large, unpermitted event is underway in unincorporated Monterey County, it becomes

virtually impossible for a code enforcement officer and/or Sheriff Deputy to intervene and shut down the event. This results in potential adverse health and safety issues for attendees and neighbors as well as the safety of the responding code enforcement officer and/or Sheriff's Deputy. I wholly disagree with this finding. Response: Due to the prioritization of calls for service noise complaints are considered lower priority calls for service which can lead to delayed response. Though, once a response occurs it is feasible, with well written and enforceable ordinances, to shut down an event. There are inherent hazards conducting any enforcement action law enforcement undertakes yet the hazards can be mitigated, though not eliminated, by assessing the support elements needed to shut down the event safely and effectively.