Fountain Valley police look to bolster recruitment

Facing a significant staffing shortage, the Fountain Valley Police Department approached the City Council Tuesday with a plan to provide a boost to its recruiting efforts.

The department has a dozen police officer vacancies and has three openings for dispatcher positions.

“That’s a lot,” Mayor Glenn Grandis said. “That’s a critical issue for our community.”

Police Capt. Steve DeSantis presented an incentive program for law enforcement personnel who make a lateral move to the department. Current employees would also be incentivized for getting involved via a referral process.

“To date, your police department has employed aggressive recruiting campaigns by expanding our efforts at colleges, job fairs, police academies and military bases, and invested time and money into posting job fliers in various law enforcement publications, even those out of state,” DeSantis said. “We feel that more must be done to attract the highest quality individuals to our city.”

The incentive program would require a budget of up to $165,000 per year. City officials said the department’s personnel budget could handle the cost in the current fiscal year.

Officers hired as a lateral move would be eligible for up to a $10,000 signing bonus. The amount would be paid in two installments, with $5,000 coming at the time of hire. The other $5,000 would come after successful completion of the probationary period, which would be one year of service with the department.

Dispatchers hired on a lateral move could receive up to $5,000, also paid out in two installments.

Any associated hires who make lateral moves would also receive 40 hours of compensation time, which would not hold cash value. A staff report noted that new hires accumulate 80 hours of compensation time in a year, adding that those making lateral moves would have to cash out or lose accumulated vacation hours upon leaving their previous job.

“When new candidates are hired and come here, especially the laterals, they come with many years of experience, but when they come here, they lose all of their time, all of their vacation accrual and basically start at zero,” DeSantis said. “In order to attract those candidates, that’s why we’re offering that incentive.”

To qualify for the lateral hiring incentive, the individual must be currently employed by a California law enforcement agency as a police officer or dispatcher, DeSantis said. If they have previously held either of those positions with the city, the parties must have been separated for at least two years prior to the date of applying.

New recruits hired as police officers would receive up to $5,000, which would again be paid in two installments at the time of hire and following the probation period.

A department employee referral bonus for helping to bring in a police officer or dispatcher would amount to up to $2,000 or 40 hours of compensation time.

City staff asked to make the incentive program retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year.

“The impact that has is at the current time, the incentive would be made available to one recruit that’s currently in the academy, with the potential for four recruits, one lateral officer, and one lateral dispatcher that are currently wrapping up the background process,” DeSantis added.

Council members directed city staff to move ahead with a one-year pilot program. DeSantis said the city would have to meet and confer with the Police Officers Assn. on the matter.

“Recruitment is a challenge for police officers,” Councilman Patrick Harper said. “We hear it every conference we go to, and it’s hard to find good officers. I would be supportive of giving this program a pilot for a year.”