Fewer police officers will be patrolling the streets of Berkeley starting Saturday as the department struggles with staffing shortages.
Earlier this week in a memo to the mayor and City Council, the Berkeley city manager announced that the police department would have to go from a 16-beat to a 14-beat configuration because the department is consistently understaffed and it hasn’t been able to hire enough officers.
Berkeley Scanner, an independent news website, reported that Berkeley PD normally has about 150 officers, and that number is down by more than 30 because of leave, injuries and other issues. The department is authorized to have about 180 officers but cannot seem find people to fill those roles.
Berkeley Scanner also reported that the new beat structure means non-emergency calls will take longer to respond to, and if there’s a big emergency, Berkeley police may need to call for mutual aid from other agencies.
The Berkeley Police Department did not immediately respond to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment.
Source: NBC Bay Area
Be First to Comment