For City Council Meeting [April 23, 2019]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Sean Grayson, Interim City Administrator
FROM: Mark P. Kling, Chief of Police
Title
Request City Council to Approve Budget Resolution No. 7503 and Resolution No. 7504 Approving a Recruitment Incentive Program for Lateral Sworn and Non-Sworn Employees to be Included in the FY2018/2019 Police Department Budget.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
Law enforcement agencies throughout the County, including the Rialto Police Department, are facing major challenges in the recruitment of experienced and qualified law enforcement employees. Law enforcement agencies in the region regularly compete for the same pool of sworn and non-sworn candidates. Often times, applicants choose the agency that offers competitive wages and benefits.
Due to attrition, the Rialto Police Department currently has several vacancies with a number of projected vacancies in the near future. Hiring lateral police officers and non-sworn employees benefit the organization by reducing the amount of time employees spend in training, in order to be released to work independently. The Rialto Police Department’s current General and Management Memorandum of Understanding’s (MOU) require employees be off probation before receiving incentives for education and certificates. Due to this limitation, perspective lateral candidates often choose competing agencies that offer incentives.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Law enforcement agencies have found alternative solutions to attract experienced sworn and non-sworn lateral employees, by implementing these incentives to newly hired employees.
Three examples are:
|
City |
Hiring Incentive |
|
Hemet |
$15,000 |
|
Westminster |
$10,000 |
|
Downey |
$3,000 |
A search of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) revealed a number of agencies offering signing incentives ranging from $7,500 to $15,000 for Lateral Police Officers.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RSO) currently offers a hiring incentive to all 9-1-1 Dispatchers in the amount of $16,000 over a period of 5 years. RSO’s hiring incentive pertains to all newly hired 9-1-1 Dispatchers, not only for lateral dispatchers.
Staff’s research further revealed a number of reasons as to why experienced lateral police officers and non-sworn employees often choose not to apply with the Rialto Police Department:
• 2.7% at age 57 retirements offered by the City of Rialto if hired after 1/1/2013 and ARE NOT members of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) or a reciprocal agency.
• Higher pay and/or benefits offered by other law enforcement agencies.
• Other law enforcement agencies offering lateral incentive packages.
• The loss of seniority.
• The loss of accrued leave banks when moving to a new agency.
To address the growing problem of recruitment, The Rialto Police Department has taken a number of steps to improve its recruitment process to include:
• Modifying the hiring process.
• Revamping the department’s website for easier access to department information.
• Launching a social media recruitment campaign, to name a few.
By implementing a Recruitment Incentive Program, the department is likely to increase the number of experienced law enforcement professionals applying for open positions.
The Recruitment Incentive Program will apply only to qualified sworn and non-sworn lateral applicants (defined below), who begin employment with the Rialto Police Department. The Recruitment Incentive Program will apply to applicants hired for the position for which they originally applied.
The City Administrator, at the direction of the City Council, reserves the right to modify or terminate this Incentive Program without prior notice. Applications received prior to termination of the Incentive Program will remain eligible for incentive payments, provided all terms and conditions of this Lateral Recruitment Incentive Program are satisfied. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Lateral Recruitment Incentive Program, under no circumstance shall the incentive payments set forth herein exceed the budgeted authority in any given year.
For purposes of this Recruitment Incentive Program, “Lateral Police Officer” is defined as a currently employed, qualified law enforcement officer with not less than one (1) year of law enforcement experience with a California law enforcement agency, served immediately prior to application with the Rialto Police Department, who possesses a California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Basic Peace Officer certificate or higher. “Non-Sworn” staff is defined as Dispatcher, Records, or Law Enforcement Technician (LET) personnel currently employed, with not less than one (1) year of law enforcement experience in the defined position with a California law enforcement agency, served immediately prior to application with the Rialto Police Department. The proposed incentives are as follows:
Incentives
1. Qualified new hired lateral police officers, hired on, or after March 1, 2019, will receive Recruitment Incentive Program incentives as follows:
a. $5,000 to be paid within the initial pay period.
b. $5,000 to be payable within the first pay period, after the successful completion of the employee’s probationary period.
2. Qualified lateral non-sworn employees, hired on, or after March 1, 2019, will receive Recruitment Incentive Program incentives as follows:
a. $2,500 to be paid within the initial pay period.
b. $2,500 to be payable within the first pay period, after successful completion of the employee’s probationary period.
Staff recommends City Council approve a resolution for a Recruitment Incentive Program that will begin upon Council approval for newly hired Lateral Police Officers and non-sworn personnel.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
The request is not a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to Section 15378(a), a “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to Section 15378(b), a Project does not include: (5) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
The City of Rialto has outlined key goals and objectives relating to public safety.
Goal 5-8: Provide effective and comprehensive policing services that meet the safety needs of Rialto.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impact
Total General Fund impact in the FY2018/2019 is anticipated at $30,000, which will be absorbed through departmental salary savings due to unfilled positions. Budget for the Recruitment Incentive Program will be included in the FY2019/2020 budget process for the Police Department next fiscal year for an amount not to exceed $100,000.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
This report does not impact the Capital Improvement Budget.
Licensing
This report does not trigger a requirement for a business license.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the Recruitment Incentive Program in order to attract qualified and experienced law enforcement professionals and fill vacant positions within the Rialto Police Department.
2. Approve the Budget Resolution.
3. Approve the Resolution approving a Recruitment Incentive Program for lateral sworn and non-sworn employees.