‘They’re Exhausted’: Sacramento Police Association Says Millions More Needed To Add Officers, Keep Community Safe
CBS Sacramento 2 hrs ago Syndicated Local – CBS Sacramento
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The Sacramento Police Officers Association, or SPOA, is calling on city leaders for help, saying overtime is through the roof and crime is out of control.
They’re talking about needing millions of dollars more a year in order to get enough officers on the streets. The way things are now, SPOA president Tim Davis says they’re spending $15 million a year in overtime.
“They’re exhausted. They’re working overtime. They’re working mandatory shifts and they need some relief. And we’re calling on the City Council to do that,” Davis told CBS13.
Sacramento Plans To Increase Spending On Police Here s How You Can Learn More About This Year s Proposed City Budget capradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UpdatedThu, May 6, 2021 at 7:20 am PT
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Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (center), shown here during a 2019 Sacramento City Council meeting, supports a $9.4 million increase in the city s police budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA Calls for defunding police in America have ramped up in the year since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with a number of major American cities taking steps to move certain responsibilities away from law enforcement.
Those cities include Sacramento, which plans to spend $5.8 million on a Department of Community Response that will, according to The Sacramento Bee, handle mental health issues and homelessness, among other calls that have traditionally been handled by police.
Sacramento Proposes Record-High Police Budget Amid Calls to ‘Defund the Police’
The city of Sacramento has unveiled a record-high police budget of $165.8 million, despite the creation of a new department that would shift certain responsibilities away from law enforcement.
In the face of cries from certain groups to “defund the police” across California and the United States, Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan has proposed to increase the police budget by $9.4 million, as part of the city’s $1.3 billion overall budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The changes, according to the proposal, cover a number of additions, including the recruitment of new officers, new replacement vehicles, and raises officers received from their union contract with Sacramento Police Officers Association.
The West Sacramento City Council is at an impasse as to how to fill a vacancy for a fifth member and looks to be headed toward a special election.
What that special election will look like, whether it will be a regular in-person election in November or a strictly mail-in process in August, is expected to be decided at the Council’s January 20 or February 3 meetings. As previously reported by the Sacramento OBSERVER, the vacancy was created after last November 3’s election, when City Councilmember Martha Guerrero was successful in her bid to become mayor.
Councilmembers Quirina Orozco and Chris Ledesma have supported having data researcher Dr. Dawnte Early fill the open spot, as she was the next highest vote getter in the recent election. Dr. Early would be the first African American to serve on the West Sacramento City Council. Mayor Guerrero and Councilmember Norma Alcala, who garnered the second highest number of votes, want to open it up to applications and have the Counci