A CLOSER LOOK -- Filling a public-service void

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Last week, the Newport Beach Fire Department hired

nine new officers and promoted nine others -- the largest number since

1977.

And, while such a high number is unusual, it is not the only agency in

the area that is on a hiring spree.

The Newport Beach Police Department, too, is looking to add more

officers, with a new fire station in Santa Ana Heights to staff and a

whole new area to cover with the annexation of Newport Coast in the near

future.

The Costa Mesa Police Department, which has been actively recruiting

for the last two years, is now close to its full strength of 154 sworn

officers.

And the city’s Fire Department is getting ready to put out a

recruitment flier anticipating at least a dozen retirements this year.

HERE TO STAY

Officials say the loss of personnel is a common trend every few years,

but for Newport Beach Fire, it has not happened in a while. Last year

alone, the department saw four retirements -- one of the largest numbers

in about 20 years, said Capt. John Blauer.

Those hired are usually on a one-year probation and go through

extensive training in a variety of areas from operating equipment to

executing multi-victim rescues, said Blauer.

“It is a labor-intensive process,” he said.

“But in the end, all the hiring and training is worth it because we

get good people who would probably end up staying here their whole

career,” Blauer added. “It’s largely the people who came in the ‘70s who

are retiring now.”

That is true of Newport Beach Police Department as well, said Sgt.

Steve Shulman.

“The morale in our department is really good,” he said. “Our officers

love the community here. And once people come here, they’re here for

several years.”

The city is, however, in the process of hiring officers continually

because of retirements, he said.

And the process is only sped up with the annexation of Newport Coast

looming large, Shulman added.

“The challenge here is we don’t know when exactly the annexation would

take place,” he said. But it takes almost a year to hire, train officers

and prepare them to patrol the streets.

“That’s why we’re hiring now so that we can be effective when we get

there,” said Shulman. “Another challenge is to keep up with the attrition

and make sure we hire quality officers.”

Newport Beach picks only two out of every 100 applicants, he said.

A CHALLENGING PROCESS

Costa Mesa police has its own high standards, said Training Manager

Hugh Tate.

“We have one of the highest score requirements,” he said. While most

departments ask for 50 points out of 65 in the qualifying test, Costa

Mesa requires 52.

“That might seem like a small difference, but it really adds up to a

lot of points in between,” said Tate, who is also a member of the state’s

Steering Committee for Recruiting, an organization of police departments

from all over California.

The Costa Mesa Police Department is looking to hire only two officers

this year. But that is because they have been busy recruiting for seven

years straight. Over just the last two years, the department has hired 17

sworn officers, most of them entry-level positions, said Tate.

The main challenge is to get qualified people to apply, he said. One

reason for that could be the flourishing economy over several years that

has opened up plum jobs in the public sector, said Tate.

“Those jobs don’t require people to work odd hours or double shifts,”

he said.

Hiring quality people has turned into a significant challenge for

police departments statewide, said Tate. The state Steering Committee is

coming out with a series of public service announcements in July to

encourage more young people to join the police force, he said.

But Costa Mesa continues to try by offering good benefits and by

maintaining personal contact with applicants, said Tate. One way they do

that is by assigning a mentor to each applicant.

The department, on average, receives 30 to 40 applicants a month, a

number Tate says is surprisingly high given the numbers statewide.

All the same, Costa Mesa police a few years ago used to receive up to

500 applications every three months.

The Costa Mesa Fire Department, on the other hand, has not recruited

in two years, but plans to begin soon. The reason? A new retirement

benefit that will become effective May 20, said Howard Perkins, personnel

manager.

That new retirement benefit will give qualifying retirees 85% of their

highest salary, which is why the city expects at least 10 retirements

this year, he said.

“Our goal is to have an eligibility list that we can hire from when

vacancies occur,” said Perkins. “So right now we’re in the process of

getting a job flyer out and coming up with a testing process.”

The department is looking for firefighters as well as firefighter

paramedics, he said.