Contra Costa County Grand Jury
• 2019-2020
• Agency Response
Julie Pierce, Mayor Jeff Wan, Vice Mayor Community Tuija Catalano, Councilmember Development (925) 673-7340*
⚠️ 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.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F11
Findings and Recommendations 13 findings
F1
Low officer staffing ratios and/or unfilled officer position present challenges in maintaining police services. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Low officer staffing ratios and/or unfilled officer positions have resulted in reducing or eliminating staffing of traffic units, school resource officer, community outreach, or other police services. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The City/Town Councils of Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, El Cerrito, Hercules, Martinez, Oakley, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek should consider identifying funds to study the cost/benefit of a countywide screening process for police officer positions, to avoid replication of these steps while allowing each city police department to select and evaluate candidates,
F3
Due to low officer staffing ratios and/or unfilled officer positions, officers are often required to put in mandatory overtime to cover critical services. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The City/Town Councils of Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, El Cerrito, Hercules, Martinez, Oakley, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek should consider directing their police departments to apply annually, or when offered in 2021, to the Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program, which provides funding for hiring additional officers,
F4
Mandatory overtime can lead to officer stress, which creates retention challenges. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The City/Town Councils of Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, El Cerrito, Hercules, Martinez, Oakley, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek should consider identifying funds to increase the number of sworn officers to fill understaffed units, such as traffic patrol and school resource officers,
F5
Low officer staffing ratios and/or unfilled officer positions may contribute to increased average response times for Priority 1 (emergency) calls. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The City/Town Councils of Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, El Cerrito, Hercules, Martinez, Oakley, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek should consider identifying funds that would permit their police departments to over-hire officer positions as a strategy for keeping fully staffed,
F6
Recruiting officers is challenging due to fewer applicants who meet the required hiring standards and complete the rigorous testing process. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Negative perceptions of policing and the availability of less dangerous job opportunities contribute to fewer applicants for law enforcement positions. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Each Contra Costa police agency (except those that contract with the Sheriff's Office) conducts its own recruiting program to attract potential positions. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The process of hiring and training new officers takes an extensive amount of time and resources to complete. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F10
Each Contra Costa police agency (except those that contract with the Sheriff's Office) manages its own screening process for the police officer position, resulting in a replication of efforts across the county. City Response The City of Clayton partially agrees with this finding. While each City does manage its own screening process that is not a replication of efforts. Each municipality has unique community needs and each of those police departments has similar, but differing criteria for the screening of police officer applicants.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
Recruits and young officers have different expectations than in the past regarding work/life balance. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F13
Recruits and young officers' expectations about work/life balance contribute to the challenges of officer recruitment and retention. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding
No recommendations for this finding
F14
Wellness and Employee Assistance Programs offered by Contra Costa police agencies aid retention of police officers. City Response The City of Clayton agrees with this finding # # # # #
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.