25 May Pittsburg Police Union Calls on City to Support Officers

“I can’t blame them when they look at what we have to offer,” said Pittsburg Police Officers Association member and detective Jonathan Elmore, at lectern, of officers leaving the Pittsburg Police Department for other agencies. At right is PPOA President and PPD Officer Jerry Sanchez. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Pittsburg police officers say they are struggling — with poor officer retention, some of the lowest pay in the county, almost a dozen vacancies — and the Pittsburg Police Officers Association wants the city to do more. 

The association, which represents police officers, sergeants and corporals in the Pittsburg Police Department, at Monday’s City Council meeting called on the city to increase pay and support for officers in an effort to boost officer retention. 

Nearly two dozen officers have left the Pittsburg Police Department in the last 10 years for higher-paying agencies. Many have left for departments in Antioch, El Cerrito, Oakley, Concord, Martinez, San Ramon and Richmond. Others have gone to various local and federal agencies.

“They (officers) are not just going anywhere. These are allied agencies that officers are lateraling to. They are seeing more value in them for monetary and (other) benefits to their family,” said Jonathan Elmore, PPOA member and detective in the department.“I can’t blame them when they look at what we have to offer.” 

Of the 11 law enforcement agencies within Contra Costa that Elmore provided data for, Pittsburg provided the lowest compensation for officers with five years of experience at $11,001 per month.

Elmore said low pay is largely the reason why officers say they leave the department and why the department is struggling to retain officers 

The city’s budget allows for 88 sworn positions, but 11 are vacant and four are on leave. Ten officers are in the pipeline to fill those vacancies, said POA president Jerry Sanchez, who is also an officer with the department, but that takes time. 

“There’s a lot of hats that officers have to wear, and I don’t think the public understands a lot of it, but this is part of the training that we have to go into,” said Sanchez, who said 53 officers and sergeants are currently staffing the department. Of those, 34 are responding to daily calls. 

The 10 officers set to fill some of the vacancies still have to undergo training before they can serve as solo officers, according to Elmore and Sanchez. In total, it can take officers around 18 months from the start of their application before they’re finished with training. 

And when officers decide to leave shortly after completing training, POA leaders say that leaves the department with around $201,334 in costs dedicated to that officer’s hiring process. 

The department saw an increase in officers between 2016 and 2018, before having some of the lowest officer staffing levels in 2024 in over 10 years, according to data provided by the POA. 

As officer staffing has trended down, the city has also seen a decrease in crime since 2023. Nearly every category in property and violent crimes declined in 2024. The department said in February that violent crime had been declining since 2022. 

Wolfgang Croskey, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said the recent decline in crime doesn’t necessarily mean crime is actually down. Instead, he said residents have “given up on reporting” crimes to the police. 

“Because they feel nothing is going to happen, so why report?” said Croskey. “So the data shows crime is down, but I don’t personally think it is, and a lot of our businesses know that it’s not.” 

At an October 2024 meeting, the department said calls for service had declined by about 3% compared to 2023. The report came about a month before former council member and then-candidate for the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors Shanelle Scales-Preston was the target of claims that she was responsible for the alleged increase in crime in the city. 

Then-Mayor Juan Banales and -Vice Mayor Jelani Killings pushed back against the claims that crime had climbed. The claims were sponsored by a website from the Contra Costa County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, which endorsed Scales-Preston’s opponent, Antioch City Council member Mike Barbanica. 

Elmore and Sanchez, both of whom have roots in the city, acknowledged that crime in Pittsburg is not what it historically has been. 

“I knew what it once was. It wasn’t what it is now. It used to be a very dangerous city in [the] ’80s, ’90s and the early 2000s,” said Sanchez.

But both said that was largely because of the work that officers had put in. 

“The people that have made this police …  that you now have is on the backs of the officers because it’s the backbone of any city to prosper and better serve its people,” said Sanchez.

The POA’s plea comes about a month after a report from the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury found that the Richmond Police Department had seen a “significant drop” in the force since officials reallocated $3 million from RPD to alternative policing strategies. 

Pittsburg and Richmond are two of the several Bay Area cities struggling with police staffing, which many law enforcement agencies say is partly due to low compensation and public perception of police.