CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) -- The Chula Vista Police Department and city staff will present a report to the Chula Vista City Council that says there are not enough police officers compared to other cities in San Diego County.
A Chula Vista Police Captain who helped prepare the report said Chula Vista has 0.87 police officers for every 1,000 Chula Vista residents. That’s the lowest ratio in the county even though the city is the second largest in the county. Captain Vern Sallee said they would need to hire 43 additional officers immediately just to catch up with Carlsbad, which is the next lowest.
A Chula Vista city spokeswoman that would cost the city roughly $10.3 million a year because they would also have to hire 19 civilians as well. The full implementation would cost $29.4 million.
Sallee said Chula Vista currently spends about $199 per resident on public safety. That’s the lowest amount in San Diego County. The next lowest is Escondido at $271 per resident. The county average is $332.
Oddly enough, Chula Vista is considered one of the safest cities in San Diego County. Crime stats tabulated by the FBI and the San Diego Association of Governments regularly list Chula Vista as one of the safest cities of its size in the nation.
However, Sallee admitted the CVPD has missed its response time thresholds for priority 1 calls the past four years. It has missed its response times for priority 2 calls the past 19 years.
The report will be presented to the Chula Vista City Council Tuesday night during its regular meeting.
