Six additional full -time employees were approved Tuesday for the Carlsbad police department, the chief of the expansion police, Christie Calderwood, would reduce response times and help manage up to 40 special events and 400 traffic complaints per year.
Response times for priority calls absolutely went on an average of 4 minutes and 49 seconds in 2021 to 6 minutes and 45 seconds in 2024, according to the police service.
The number of calls for the service fluctuates to just over 100,000 per year, but increased by 5% in the two years from 2022 to 2024, when the most recent total was 108,746. Meanwhile, other responsibilities unrelated to calls, such as community meetings, efforts to raise awareness of homelessness and the conduct of electric bicycle education courses, increased officers.
Technology also takes on a larger bite for officers. The growing use of cameras carried on the body, flight trackers, license plates, domestic surveillance systems and more of all help resolve crimes. But the drawback is that they all add to the time spent on cases.
“We are at a point … where additional staff is necessary,” Calderwood told Carlsbad municipal council, who approved unanimously increased at his meeting on Tuesday. “The requests that await you tonight are not desires; These requests are immediate needs. ”
The demand includes three patrol agents, a trafficking sergeant and special events, a detective of internet crimes against children and a specialist in digital criminalics. Posts will also help the ministry reduce overtime and improve the quality of life of employees, said Calderwood.
Carlsbad’s child abuse detective has a “extreme number of cases” of 74 open cases and 80 to 100 additional reports that must be examined at any time, she said. Many cases are sensitive and include a large amount of digital evidence.
Most of the initial reports of children’s abuse are linked to Carlsbad according to the address of the Internet protocol, commonly known as “IP address”, and additional work is necessary to determine whether a crime has taken place in Carlsbad, the police chief said.
“There is coordination with several agencies which must take place to work effectively these cases,” she said. “Online operating cases need a detective with special training.”
The digital criminalic specialist is the only non -useful employee on the list. This person would be a person trained to testify before the courts of the download, extraction and investigation process on digital evidence from a variety of sources now common in almost all crimes.
Recruitment and, in some cases, employee training will start immediately but could take up to six months, said Calderwood.
Covering the cost of the police service will be an additional $ 690,000 of the general fund for the year 2024-25 which is in progress. According to a staff report.
The members of the council congratulated the police administrators for their work in the preparation of the request.
“I really appreciate how you explained why these are our needs,” said the member of the Council Priya Bhat-Patel.
“I’m glad you started again why these positions are so necessary,” said the member of the Council Teresa Acosta. “I support so much to make sure that we have a fully endowed police service and very proud of the work we do.”
The cities of the County of San Diego had an average of 1.32 sworn police officers for 1,000 residents during the year 2023-24, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
During this year, Carlsbad had 1.14 officers for 1,000 residents, which made him fourth among the background of the region. Coronado led the list with 2.02 per 1,000, followed by the city of San Diego, with 1.48 officers for 1,000 residents.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
