After years of struggling to hire and retain police officers, Mayor Todd Gloria says it may be time to consider a new approach to closing the shortage: a merger with the Harbor Police.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a Harbor Police department that consists of about 140 police officers that basically has overlapping jurisdiction,\u201d Gloria said at a Politifest panel Saturday. The panel also featured Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and Aimee Faucett, president of Agenda Setting and previously the chief of staff for Mayor Kevin Faulconer.<\/p>\n
The San Diego Police Department has a staffing shortfall of about 200 officers. Gloria said the city currently has about 1,822 officers, and aims to get to 2,000. He also suggested the city use drones and AI technology to save officers time.<\/p>\n
San Diego\u2019s staffing struggles<\/a> have contributed to lagging response times and massive overtime spending, which is especially problematic as the city nears the possibility of mid-year budget cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this time of real challenges financially, we should be asking ourselves fundamental questions about the way we\u2019ve chosen to organize ourselves and wonder if we can be more efficient,\u201d Gloria said.<\/p>\n This idea came as a surprise to many, including the Harbor Police.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor Gloria\u2019s suggestion to merge Harbor Police with San Diego Police has not been discussed between the Port and the City of San Diego and it will not be entertained,\u201d Port CEO Scott Chadwick wrote in a memo to staff Monday evening.<\/p>\n The memo explains that the proposal is jurisdictionally complicated because the Harbor Police also operate along the coastlines of Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City. Additionally, the state law that created the Port of San Diego mandates that the agency maintain its own police force.<\/p>\n Sounds like a job for the boundary refs over at the Local Agency Formation Commission, which have the power to bring local agencies into or out of existence.<\/p>\n