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   the rEgion
 

Public safety budget SANDAG Criminal Justice Research Division
analysis released

The costs of benefits and salaries for law enforcement and other public safety agencies have steadily risen in recent years, requiring the organizations to be more efficient with their resources, according to a yearly budget analysis performed by SANDAG.

Although the region has a relatively low officer-to-citizen ratio (1.42 sworn officers per 1,000 residents) compared to other large U.S. cities, crime rates have dropped steadily in recent years and San Diego remains as safe or safer than other comparable communities.

“As is the case with many other public agencies and other entities, staffing is a major issue now and will continue to be one in the future as a growing number of individuals retire and new recruits need to be identified, hired, and trained,” said Carlsbad Police Chief Tom Zoll, vice chair of the SANDAG Public Safety Committee.

“We have been fortunate in the San Diego region to work in partnership to keep our communities safe. Our local chiefs and the Sheriff are committed to making the most efficient use of our resources in the future.”
 
The budget analysis is contained in Public Safety Budgets in the San Diego Region: Expenditures and Staffing for Fiscal Year 2008, an annual bulletin in which the SANDAG Criminal Justice Research Division reviews funds spent in the region on law enforcement, the courts, prosecution, probation, and public defense.

The report compares fiscal year 2007/2008 with the previous year, five years before, and 10 years before, identifying trends in the field.

During the last five years, for example, public safety budgets overall increased 14 percent and law enforcement budgets increased 20 percent. These increases are largely due to rising benefit expenses that include retirement, health insurance, workers comp, and training. During that same time period, public safety staffing increased one percent overall and law enforcement staffing increased two percent, while the regional population increased four percent.

In spite of the budget challenges faced by public safety agencies, the region’s violent crime rate dropped to a 25-year low in 2007, with 4.41 reported incidents per 1,000 residents, according to the SANDAG annual regional crime bulletin released in April.

Some other interesting facts in the budget report include:

  • During fiscal year 2007/2008, the region budgeted $1.85 billion for the services analyzed in the report. Of that, law enforcement accounted for half the funds, the courts and corrections each used 14 percent, another 11 percent went to prosecution, six percent to probation, and four percent to public defense.

  • A total of $599 was budgeted per person living in San Diego County for public safety (not including fire and paramedics, federal courts and jails, and certain other agencies not accounted for in local budgets).

  • The incorporated cities spent an average of 34 percent of their general funds on law enforcement, ranging from 19 percent in Carlsbad to 54 percent in El Cajon. (Nine of the cities operate their own police agencies, and the nine others contract with the county for Sheriff’s services.)

  • There are a total of 6,350 budgeted positions (4,407 sworn and 1,943 non-sworn) in the law enforcement agencies, and approximately 14,000 combined positions in all the public safety areas analyzed in the report.

  • The County of San Diego dedicated 28 percent of its budget to public safety functions, including law enforcement for the unincorporated areas, prosecution, public defense, courts support, community supervision of offenders, and local corrections.

More information is available by visiting www.sandag.org/cj. 

Project Manager

Cynthia Burke, Division Director, Criminal Justice Research
Phone: (619) 699-1910, E-mail: cbu@sandag.org