They have lowered the Crime Rate in Rialto, based upone Stat's that were turned over by The FBI!! Even when Owens was trying to say that the Crime rate was out of hand!! Well the Police Officers of Rialto showed them, well what Officers were left that is. They were sloving crimes right and left, reducing the crime rate in Rialto.
Now, There is a time for them to loosen their belts and take it easy. Spend time with their families, after all they feel that they have earned it and in some ways they have!! they have done a super bang up job!!
The one to blame in all this mess is the City Admin. the city Attorney for all the poor Advice, and Ed. Scott for forcing the Sheriff's Department Idea onto the Council in the first place.
Well, I think the City council should wake up and start to pay the Police Officers the 3% @50 retirement plan that they need and want. They need to increase the Insentive for Employment from $5.000.00 to $15000.00 that way they are $5K above every one else and they will get the better applicants doing that.
BSRanch...
Voluntary overtime down at Rialto PD
RIALTO - After six months of elevated workloads, a force withered by uncertainty and the weight of thousands of overtime hours is showing signs of strain, police leaders say.
In recent weeks, voluntary overtime shifts have gone unfilled, leaving command staff no choice but to make the extra hours mandatory for officers.
"What we're seeing is that, as a group, our personnel are becoming less willing to volunteer for overtime," said interim Deputy Chief Tim Ousley, who has stressed repeatedly the keen focus he and other leaders have for signs of officer burnout.
"When people are working a 20 percent increase in workload for a sustained period, it affects them and their families."
Department statistics compiled through April indicate an unprecedented surge in overtime hours worked. Overtime hours through April were up to 11,286, a nearly 80 percent increase over the same period in 2005.
In a Police Department reduced to a total of 124 sworn and nonsworn personnel - the budget calls for 153 positions - the overtime hours equate to about 91 hours per worker over four months.
But, officers say, the distribution is not even.
"It's obvious that some burnout is happening," said Sgt. Andrew Karol, who heads the narcotics team.
"It's harder in general to get people to step into overtime, but some officers are definitely taking more. I'm always on the lookout for the signs. I can usually see it wearing on their faces."
Hardened by hefty workloads and the departure of colleagues during the political battle for survival after the City Council voted in September to dissolve the Police Department, officers have performed remarkably well statistically.
Through April, response times to emergency calls were down to 4 minutes 51 seconds, shaving 23 seconds off average response times during the same period last year, according to department statistics.
Figures for May and June were not available due to personnel shortages in the record-keeping.
Despite violent and property crime dropping overall from last year, the homicide tally this year is up. With nine homicides in the 100,000 city thus far, 2006 is on pace to vie for the deadliest year in more than a decade.
But don't blame that or any other number on officer fatigue, said interim Police Chief Frank Scialdone.
Scialdone said that while persuading officers to forgo time off to pick up a grinding patrol shift is tougher now than it was a few months ago, the weary department is still performing in peak condition.
"At no time has this situation compromised public safety in our city, nor has it ever put officer safety in question," Scialdone said.
Scialdone is set to hand the department over to a new chief. An eight-person panel, which includes Scialdone, will interview candidates for the job today.
He said Police Department leaders have been keeping their eyes open for signs of burnout.
"We've been keeping our fingers on the pulse in order to catch any problems when they're just starting, and now we're just detecting a little flutter, but we're not in full cardiac arrest."
Scialdone said he will meet with sergeants Tuesday to be briefed further on the status of rank-and-file officers.
Scialdone said there are basically two types of overtime, the special assignment overtime, like working Fourth of July, and the routine patrol overtime. The latter is harder to fill, he said.
Officer Glen Anderson was weary Wednesday morning after working through the night on the Fourth of July.
"The heavy workload affects everyone," said Anderson, who estimates that he works about 20 overtime hours per pay period, or about 10 a week. "But we're making do with what we have, and we know relief is just around the corner."
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