Grand jury: Orland police understaffed

Orland lacks enough police officers for a city its size, the Glenn County grand jury concludes in its final report.

Chief Bob Pasero and his officers are “conscientious, hard working and dedicated to the safety of citizens in Orland,” states the report released Tuesday. But crime is rising in the city, and the department has already cut its budget 20 percent.

“Right now the OPD has a clearance rate of only 24 percent due to the lack of time for individual officers and no detective available to provide follow-up investigations,” the report states. The full report can be downloaded at orland-press-register.com.

Orland has 10 sworn officers and two civilian employees. Three sworn and one non-sworn position remain vacant due to lack of funding. In March, the department pulled its officer from the Glenn Interagency Narcotics Task Force so he could be reassigned to patrol duty.

“Due to the manpower shortage it is not uncommon to have only one officer on duty for some shifts,” the report states. “This reduces effectiveness, response time, and is an officer safety concern.”

When comparing Orland’s police department with those in Corning, Willows and Colusa, the jury found those departments were staffed proportionately higher.

Pasero said Thursday that he has read part of the grand jury report and the figures quoted about his department seem accurate, but “I have not read all it.”

City officials have 60 days to submit their response to the report, and City Manager Paul Poczobut Jr. is working on the document this week.

He said Orland does not receive the same amount of sales tax and hotel tax revenues as Corning and Willows, so it cannot afford the same staffing levels as those cities. Orland is getting less than $900,000 in sales tax revenues this year, Poczobut said, about half of Corning’s $1.8 million.

Those cities each receive about $300,000 in hotel taxes compared to Orland’s $75,000, Poczobut said. Corning also gained $2.7 million in sales tax revenues two years ago, and $1.8 million this year while Orland is getting less than $900,000.

Even so, the grand jury concludes that police understaffing could put the city at financial risk.

“It is our concern that should a police officer or a citizen of Orland be seriously injured or worse, directly due (to) the shortage of manpower, the city could be held responsible,” the report says. “This is a huge liability and it is imperative that it be addressed to prevent any possible future litigation, which would only serve to further cripple the city financially.”

The grand jurors recommended steps including:

• Bringing staffing levels closer to recommended national standards.

• Contacting neighboring cities for help finding supplemental police funding.

• Doubling “cost recovery” fees for fingerprints, traffic fines, etc., and instituting a fee for multiple responses to burglar alarms.