Received Aug 18 2016 Ventura Countygrand Jury August 15, 2016 The Honorable Donald D. Coleman Presiding Judge of the*

The financial situation of the City of Santa Paula has imposed serious constraints on the functionality and capabilities of its police force which have affected public safety. The City of Santa Paula and its Police Department agree and understand that it is operating below staffing levels to adequately meet the needs of the community. The City of Santa Paula, like most California cities, went through very difficult fiscal stress during the great recession beginning with a major decline of sales and property tax revenues in 2007 and 2008. To offset this loss of revenue the City took many actions, such as reducing expenses, such as salary and position reductions or the reorganization of service delivery, such as privatizing solid waste collections. These actions have resulted staff shortages, significant deferred maintenance of facilities and aging equipment needing replacement. As the Grand Jury noted in its report, these actions have greatly impacted the functionality and capabilities of our Police Department. In an attempt to rectify this condition, the City has been, and will continue to, actively recruit in order to increase the number of law enforcement officers. With the improving The Honorable Donald D. Coleman August 9, 20166 economy, the City has been actively conducting recruiting efforts to fill the positions left vacant by personnel turnovers and past retirements. In the past year, the Police Department has increased the number of sworn personnel from 28 to 32. The City is also exploring several funding mechanisms in order to facilitate improvements to police services. For example, in 2014, the City received a grant from the Limoneira Company to help recruit, equip and retain police officers. This November, Santa Paula voters will have an opportunity to vote on a one percent increase in sales tax that the City intends to utilize, in part, for police services.1 Recommendations: The Grand Jury recommends that the City of Santa Paula create a prioritized list