Depending on who you ask and whether those red lights are behind you or not, there are either far too many or far too few officers patrolling the not-so-mean streets of Walnut Creek on a daily basis.
People in need of police assistance may say there are never enough officers around when things go wrong, whereas some who have run afoul of the men and women in blue might say there are too many and they should find something better to do with their time.
But the president of the association representing Walnut Creek’s finest recently told city officials that the department is understrength and in danger of slipping even further below the staffing levels the department needs to keep a safe number of police on their respective beats.
POA President Shane Blatz told civic leaders that Walnut Creek is struggling to hire and retain qualified officers, with only 76 of 85 sworn hires currently on the job – with some conditions.
“…if you remove academy recruits, FTO (field training) trainees, and officers out on injury we are only at 61 of 85,” Blatz wrote.
WCPD’s patrol division has budgeted positions for 50 officers with 46 filled. When officers out with injuries are counted, however, only 32 officers are available for patrol duties.
The numbers get even more bleak, according to Blatz, with “a handful of officers either retiring, in lateral process or resigning in the next coming months.”
Blatz’s presentation before the council echoed a similar request made recently by his counterpart in Pittsburg, that department’s POA representative also urging the city to address hiring and retention of officers there.
Many within the law enforcement community have pointed out that Walnut Creek’s problems are not unique, with the sector as a whole trying to recover from sweeping changes and resignations resulting from the tumult and public scrutiny which came with widespread rioting and anti-police sentiment in 2020-21.
“Still to this day, it’s been really hard for a lot of agencies, mostly California and specifically the Bay Area, so Walnut Creek has been struggling but we are not unique by any means,” Blatz said.
It is very important for cities to keep proper police staffing! The moment things begin to slip, and bad trends start to develop in the community, it is very hard to reverse. I could name several Bay Area cities that used to be considered very places to live and are not now, because an unsavory criminal type element was attracted and took hold in those places. Walnut Creek needs to keep their Police Department fully funded and staffed now. I hear there are several uber -liberal- anti-police council members there.
I hope the majority can override them . And I hope they can see from these policy mistakes like we see what has happened to cities that have defunded police and put unnecessary restrictions on police: Oakland is the perfect example. Oakland now has a major problems with quality of life, and fleeing businesses because of it. Please let’s not let Walnut Creek be that way!
Gee, where do I begin with this one. Let’s see, #1 WCPD is currently one of the lowest paid agencies in the county, #2 An anti-police city council, #3 A local DA that would rather send law enforcement officers to jail than true criminals, #4 What may be, MAY BE, a DEI hire police chief. Hey, my godson just lateraled from San Mateo Sheriff to Orange County Sheriff, I told him a big no to anything in Contra Costa. I did see a City of Fremont tv ad offering a $100,000 lateral bonus, what is WCPD offering? Soon you’ll be left with me…………….
For those that wanted to defund the blue , this is
What one gets.
If Kamala Harris is in fact our next governor why
We believe that anything will be different?
Officers on workers comp will only increase. Raising the
Age for retirement guaranteed that we would see this.
Being a police officer or a firefighter is a young persons business. Time beats up first responders mentally and
Physically.
It’s only going to get worse.
I live in Walnut Creek, during the day I see them all the time, how many citations do they write in a day, I bet not very many, folks speed on Civic Dr they never give speeding tickets like they used to.
It is very important for cities to keep proper police staffing! The moment things begin to slip, and bad trends start to develop in the community, it is very hard to reverse. I could name several Bay Area cities that used to be considered very places to live and are not now, because an unsavory criminal type element was attracted and took hold in those places. Walnut Creek needs to keep their Police Department fully funded and staffed now. I hear there are several uber -liberal- anti-police council members there.
I hope the majority can override them . And I hope they can see from these policy mistakes like we see what has happened to cities that have defunded police and put unnecessary restrictions on police: Oakland is the perfect example. Oakland now has a major problems with quality of life, and fleeing businesses because of it. Please let’s not let Walnut Creek be that way!
Gee, where do I begin with this one. Let’s see, #1 WCPD is currently one of the lowest paid agencies in the county, #2 An anti-police city council, #3 A local DA that would rather send law enforcement officers to jail than true criminals, #4 What may be, MAY BE, a DEI hire police chief. Hey, my godson just lateraled from San Mateo Sheriff to Orange County Sheriff, I told him a big no to anything in Contra Costa. I did see a City of Fremont tv ad offering a $100,000 lateral bonus, what is WCPD offering? Soon you’ll be left with me…………….
Firestone 11R
…word…
For those that wanted to defund the blue , this is
What one gets.
If Kamala Harris is in fact our next governor why
We believe that anything will be different?
Officers on workers comp will only increase. Raising the
Age for retirement guaranteed that we would see this.
Being a police officer or a firefighter is a young persons business. Time beats up first responders mentally and
Physically.
It’s only going to get worse.
I have never once been in Walnut Creek and even had a hint of feeling of “far too many” police officers.
I live in Walnut Creek, during the day I see them all the time, how many citations do they write in a day, I bet not very many, folks speed on Civic Dr they never give speeding tickets like they used to.
Peter,
There are no citation quotas. It was my personal policy to give a warning if I felt the driver had learned the safety lesson from the stop.
Firestone 11R