Arvin police officers are raising alarms about staffing shortages in the department, warning the situation could become a public safety crisis.
During public comment at a previous city council meeting, officers voiced concerns about losing personnel and a shift.
"Police Department is moving towards critical staffing levels and I want to be very clear this is not just an internal department issue this is a public safety crisis in the making."
Arvin Police Officer Ramirez outlined the scope of the problem.
"The police department has looking at losing at least three more officers by July. Three more officers in a small department is significant. Every lost officer means less coverage, fewer proactive patrols, slower response capabilities, and increased strain on the officers who remain."
I brought these concerns to Arvin City Manager Jeff Jones, who addressed the elimination of a shift.
"Shift was never authorized by the city manager. That was the position that was that was nice to have the former police chief at about 18 months ago, and it's just something that was nice to have, but we can't afford to have it anymore. It's something that it's something that, again, I talk about going back to 2019, 2020 levels, which match our current revenue situation."
Jones also responded to questions about potential officer departures.
"Will you be losing any officers this year and if so will you be replacing them immediately? I can't answer that, really. I don't know. I haven't heard of anybody else leaving, and I suppose if you get to a critical level, then yes, you would replace."
Arvin Police Officer Association President Officer George Galwaw addressed the shift elimination in a statement:
"The elimination of the swing shift reduced the number of officers available during periods of higher call volume. As a result, staffing levels on all shifts have been limited to two officers and one supervisor.
When an officer is unavailable due to activities such as prisoner transportation and booking at the local jail facility, staffing levels may be reduced further until that officer returns to service. This can affect response capacity and reduce the availability of officers for proactive policing activities while calls for service are being handled."
Galwaw also addressed officer departures in a statement, saying:
The Department has experienced officer departures, and additional personnel have sought employment opportunities with other agencies. The reasons officers leave can vary and may include compensation, advancement opportunities, special assignments, take-home vehicle policies, and other employment considerations.
The City has not publicly announced whether all departing officers will be replaced. The City Manager has previously stated that attrition would be used as part of the City's overall staffing reduction efforts.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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