Politics & Government

Sheriff Warns of 'Massive Layoffs'

Sheriff Stanley Sniff announced he plans to cut more than 500 full-time positions county-wide starting July 1 to meet the Board of Supervisors' proposed budget. Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning could lose up to 800 jail beds.

Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff plans to cut more than 500 full-time positions county-wide starting in July if the Board of Supervisors approve their proposed budget in June, the sheriff's department announced Friday.

The cuts would be felt in the San Gorgonio Pass, where up to 800 jail beds could be closed at the recently-expanded Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, according to Sniff.

It was not immediately clear how the cuts would effect staffing at the sheriff's Cabazon Station, the base for deputies who patrol the Pass from Whitewater to Calimesa.

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"These cuts are extremely deep and have severe ramifications for communities all across the county, but the Sheriff's Department is determined to be a partner with the Board in dealing with our County's fiscal challenges," Sniff said in a prepared statement issued Friday in a "media blast" email.

The county CEO's office has recommended cuts to sheriff's department funding next year that range from $40 million to $60 million, according to Sniff.

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"We will await the decision of the Board on what funding they ultimately approve next year for our department, and we will vigorously execute their decision as part of the County team," Sniff said.

"We will professionally make the best of whatever outcome occurs, but we all understand that the budget reflects the public's priority on how their taxpayer dollars are allocated and spent," Sniff said.

Officials in Sniff's administration have been planning a variety of scenarios to deal with deep budget cuts for the next fiscal year starting this July, according to the sheriff's department.

On April 4, Sniff addressed the Board of Supervisors after the previous week's budget hearings and outlined that sheriff’s operations across the county would be "cratered" if the county CEO's recommended budget for the Sheriff was approved by the Board in mid-June before the start of the next fiscal year.

Contract city and other contracted services will be unaffected by the budget cuts as they do not involve net county costs, according to the sheriff's department.

Net county costs support unincorporated patrol efforts across the county that directly impact roughly 450,000 residents, and the department's county jail system, made up of five separate facilities, with current capacity for 3,900 inmates, according to the sheriff's department.

The jail system serves all the criminal justice agencies in the county and annually books 60,000 adults for offenses ranging from vandalism to murder for every community and police department within Riverside County, according to the sheriff's department.

Patrol staffing levels in unincorporated areas of the county two years ago stood at 1.2/1000 population but was reduced to 1.0/1000 population in an effort to reduce costs at the direction of the Board of Supervisors, according to the sheriff's department.

Jail capacity and jail staffing was increased by Board of Supervisors direction during 2010 due to persistent jail overcrowding exacerbated by the county's population growth over the last decade and a permanent federal court order for early inmate release due to overcrowding, according to the sheriff's department.

In early April, Sniff directed executive staff to begin modeling budget cuts to operations for next fiscal year based on the county CEO's proposed budget, and exploring alternatives to meet severe funding cuts to emergency 24/7 operations.

"Due to the size of the budget cut, if approved by the Board of Supervisors in June, over 500 full-time staff will be laid off after July 1st, and nearly 800 notices will be required due to the complexity of the layoff process, including seniority, bumping rights, reclassification, transfers to need assignments and notification sequences," Sniff's statement said.

The first wave of layoffs will involve 100 deputy sheriffs and correctional deputies that will end their duties on July 13, according to the sheriff's department. Earlier this week, formal notification of the start of that process was made to the county human resources director and to the labor organization representing those staff members.

"Movements to accomplish these employee reductions will cause a great deal of turbulence throughout the Sheriff's Department as the workforce shrinks in order to meet the proposed budget," Sniff's statement said.

The sheriff's department estimates the budget cuts, if approved as proposed by the county CEO, will force unincorporated patrol levels down to .75/1000, increasing response times, and removing community policing efforts, end the department's efforts on the gang and sexual predator task forces, close half of the county-wide drug teams that deal with dispensaries, reduce patrol aviation service hours, and "close and mothball several Sheriff's patrol stations," Sniff's statement said.

In addition, to meet the proposed budget cuts, 800 jail beds will be closed at the recently expanded Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, forcing many local law enforcement agencies to book their inmates into the Riverside or Indio jail facilities, according to Sniff.

At that point, Riverside County's jail system will have been reduced from 4,200 to 3,100 beds, half the capacity of San Bernardino County, where officials recently broke ground on additional jail space to relieve overcrowding, according to the sheriff's department.


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