California has a police problem.
In some parts of the state, particularly rural areas, there aren’t enough of them. Tehama County, population 65,000, made national headlines last month when the sheriff announced he would be ending daytime patrols due to the agency’s “catastrophic staffing shortage.”
But the two main challenges facing Tehama County are also plaguing law enforcement agencies across California and the country, CalMatters’ Nigel Duara reports: First, there aren’t enough qualified new recruits to fill open positions. Second, small, rural sheriff departments often can’t afford to pay their deputies enough to keep them on the job for long.
The conundrum could result in some counterintuitive bills coming out of the state Legislature, whose Democratic supermajority has in recent years strengthened oversight of police and policing — a move that some argue has contributed to the decline in prospective law enforcement applicants.
- Democratic Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles, a key player behind the tougher regulations, told Nigel: “It’s almost like, if you’re saying the regulations are too stringent, you’re saying we can’t get people who are not racist, who do not want to brutalize people of color. We’re not the ones making police officers look bad. It’s the bad police officers who are discouraging the good ones from applying.”
- Nevertheless, Jones-Sawyer said the state may have to consider chipping in to help rural law enforcement agencies: “We probably do need to look at subsidizing smaller police departments so they can level the playing field.”
In the meantime, the California Highway Patrol will respond to 911 calls from Tehama County residents — but it has just 14 officers for a 15-county region that includes Tehama, leaving many locals to protect themselves.
- Tehama County Supervisor Bill Moule: “I moved to this county in 1978, and the first question I asked (the sheriff) was, ‘What kind of service do you have in the rural areas?’ … He looked at me and said, ‘Son, get yourself a shotgun and a dog.’ It’s no different today than it was in 1978.”
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No one wants the jab to get a job. That’s the reason for no law. No jab. No funds. Simple.