Sacramento police release dozens of reserve officers from duty
By Steve Large
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SACRAMENTO, California (KMAX, KOVR) — Sacramento police are releasing dozens of reserve officers from duty, even as the department faces staffing problems.
Sacramento police reserve officer Joseph Wagstaff showed the uniform and equipment that he will have to turn in after nearly 50 years of service, 31 as a full-time sworn officer, 17 as a reserve.
“I have to turn my gear in, and all my equipment and my badge,” Wagstaff said. “We were released immediately, with a phone call from a captain. Do not come back to work.”
Wagstaff is one of 41 reserve Sacramento police — retired officers, hired back for part-time work, who got the call they are being released from duty.
Sacramento police issued a statement reading in part, “At this time, we are still working with City Human Resources to determine how the work previously performed by retired annuitants will be addressed, and we do not yet have details on what the impact will be to staffing.”
The reserves are being released after an audit by CalPers, the California Public Employee Retirement System, showed the city of Sacramento violated specific CalPers codes on when retired employees may be hired back.
“It should have been something that the city and CalPers can work together on with a real simple settlement moving forward, instead were put in a position where we ended up letting go of the vast majority of reserves that work for the city,” said Dustin Smith, Sacramento Police Officer’s Association president.
Smith said having 41 fewer officers will affect cold case investigations, processing arrests at the jail, and staffing at big events like the California International Marathon, Aftershock, and ‘Run to Feed the Hungry.’
“So, you have this wonderful charitable event, that you’re not going to have 41 people to do traffic control, to do different security projects, throughout that event. And I don’t know how we staff an event like that anymore,” Smith said.
“Who was asleep at the switch,” Wagstaff said. “Because it looks like somebody was.”
Those 41 reserve officers are being asked to turn their badges in by Sept. 30. The impact on services is yet to be determined.
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