The first year of Chris Moore’s time as San Jose’s Police Chief was rife with challenges and painful decisions. Layoffs, budget cuts, increasing crime rates, and dissent amongst the rank-and-file officers can make the job of a police chief nightmarish. San Jose is no exception.
The cuts have taken the once robust department down to a near skeleton crew. A mentality that once focused on doing more with less has switched to the survival mentality of “doing less with less.” That approach can be adopted by the command structure faster than it can be by the residents who see fewer cops to respond to more crimes.
But as the next round of budget cuts come due, its likely that the force will face further reductions, and some of the cuts will hit close to home. One item that Moore is considering eliminating is an option to payout sick time upon retirement. That could save the department up to $10 million per year. Moore is on track to receive a $200,000 payment upon his retirement.
From the Mercury News:
As San Jose’s top cop, Chris Moore may watch over the city’s thin blue line, but the 6-foot-5, 272-pound department veteran is no longer part of it. The burden of command became increasingly evident during Moore’s tumultuous first year as chief, during which he administered a department dealing with pay cuts, layoffs, a rising murder rate and spiraling morale.
It was a year of living dangerously, and when it ended this month, the chief acknowledged during an interview that the job “has not been fun.” But he sharply disputed the notion that he’s “a puppet” of City Hall — as anonymous critics have charged on blogs frequented by the department’s rank-and-file.
Read the full article here.