Edhat Staff
Souce: Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
The 2017-18 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury learned that a mandatory overtime policy has been in effect for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office custody deputies for a number of years. The Jury investigated the background and history of the policy, the reasons for the policy, why the policy has lasted so long, the impacts of the policy, and options for addressing the issue. The Jury concluded that mandatory overtime has become a de facto element of the Sheriff’s Office personnel and budget management practices; the Sheriff’s Office has made no significant effort to understand the human toll of this policy on its personnel; and recruiting to fill vacancies that contribute to overtime requirements is a low priority.
INTRODUCTION
During the course of fulfilling its statutory mandate to inquire into the conditions and management of public prisons in the County under California Penal Code Section 919(b), the 2017-18 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury (Jury) learned from Sheriff’s Office (Office) personnel that deputies in Custody Operations have worked under a mandatory overtime policy for most of the past 15 years. Anecdotal accounts of the mandatory overtime policy provided to the Jury by Office personnel, as well as information provided by the Office, suggested substantial dissatisfaction with the policy on the part of custody deputies. Discussions with officials outside the Office, including senior County Executive Office staff and Santa Barbara County Supervisors, also revealed frustration with the policy.
The Jury understands that the nature of the law enforcement mission, like that of other public safety missions, often requires personnel to work overtime. The back-to-back disasters of the December 2017 Thomas Fire and the January 9, 2018 Montecito debris flow served as poignant reminders of the tireless efforts and dedication of first responders from the County and from the other local, state, and federal entities who assisted. Law enforcement deputies in the Sheriff’s Office, like custody deputies, have also worked substantial overtime since 2002. Nonetheless, the decade-plus mandatory overtime policy for custody deputies raised questions for the Jury about staffing and personnel management practices, the morale and welfare of custody deputies, financial implications, and Sheriff’s Office priorities. The Jury sought to understand the reasons for the protracted mandatory overtime, its effects, the impact of the new Northern Branch Jail scheduled to open in 2019, and what actions have been taken to address the issue.
Oooo man. This will not be good for Bill Brown’s re-election..
“Mandatory Overtime” sounds like an oxymoron to me. But in the past it has been something sought after by deputies who wanted to pad their retirement pay and help buy a new RV. The Sheriff did this as a boon to the deputies even as it caused big hits on the taxpayers. Now the complaint is they have had enough it seems. Clearly public policy is better served when safety employees work normal length shifts and more people have job opportunities and the cost is less.