Outside expert says staffing shortage in Sheriff’s Department is critical; service reductions recommended

BY ELAINE GOODMAN
Daily Post Correspondent

Staff shortages in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office have placed the department at a “critical juncture” in which employees’ “workload and schedule cannot be safely sustained,” according to a new report.

The shortage is severe enough that the department should consider no longer sending deputies to calls such as barking dogs, loud music or burglar alarms, said the report from Meliora Public Safety Consulting. Meliora includes former San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer. Drivers involved in an accident without injuries could be referred to an online reporting system, the consultant suggested.

Reserve deputies could be used more often to counteract shortages in court services and transportation, the report said, and the department should look at reducing minimum staffing levels at times when there usually aren’t many calls for service. 

The consultant noted that police and sheriff’s departments across the U.S. are being hit by staffing shortages. The report also said there’s been a “concerted effort” since 2023 at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to fill vacancies. 

Meliora conducted an in-depth assessment of the sheriff’s office that resulted in 298 recommendations in a nearly 700-page report. Sheriff Christina Corpus, who commissioned the report, said it’s the first time an outside party has assessed the sheriff’s office.

In a letter accompanying the release of the report last week, Corpus said she is already implementing many of the suggestions. Corpus took office in January 2023 after being elected in 2022.

Expired bulletproof vests

The consultant’s recommendations cover nearly all areas of the sheriff’s office. One recommendation is to better track the expiration dates of bulletproof vests so that deputies receive a new vest before the old one expires.

“Personnel should not be issued expired vests as a temporary solution,” said the report, which noted that the vests are typically good for three to five years.

Another suggestion is to beef up the requirements for becoming a field training officer, to include being “skilled in interpersonal relations.”

But perhaps the most serious concern the consultant expressed was the shortage of staff in both the operations and corrections divisions.

The sheriff’s department budget includes funding for 383 sworn positions and 440 non-sworn positions.The sworn positions are officers who can make an arrest and typically carry a gun.

As of January, the department only had 287 sworn employees — a 25% shortage — and 381 non-sworn workers. 

“The office is at a critical juncture due to the number of vacancies, an issue that has been growing steadily over the past several years,” the report said. “The need to fill these positions and retain qualified staff is crucial.”

Deputies are working extra shifts

To make up for the vacant positions, deputies are working an extra two 12-hour shifts every two weeks. The increased workload and reduction in time off “is compounding morale, recruitment and retention challenges,” the report said.

Seventy-seven workers left the sheriff’s department last year, including 34 who retired, 38 who quit and two who were fired. Among sheriff’s deputies, nine retired and 11 quit last year.

The consultant recommended the department require exit interviews for departing employees to gain more insight into the departures, rather than continuing the interviews as optional.

As part of its analysis, Meliora reviewed six years of data from the computer-aided dispatch system. The consultants visited the sheriff’s department for five days during which they were free to interview employees.

The report described the organization of the sheriff’s office, in which an undersheriff is second in command, reporting to Corpus. Reporting to the undersheriff are two assistant sheriffs — one in charge of the operations division and the other heading the corrections division — as well as an executive director of administration.

The latter role is held by Victor Aenlle, who was part of Corpus’ transition team following her election. The report said the civilian position had recently been created.

In a section of the report on media relations, the consultant praised Chris Hsiung, a former Mountain View police chief who was undersheriff at the time of the consultant’s review.

The report recommended that the undersheriff, as a “nationally recognized expert” in law enforcement communications, train the department’s new director of communications and help develop a communications strategy.

Hsiung abruptly left the sheriff’s office last month. The undersheriff position is now filled by former San Francisco Deputy Chief Dan Perea.