Police, city finance board agree on cuts

With $3.5 million budget shortfall for 2021 due to pandemic, funds for administrative costs take biggest hit; recommendations go to full council

Santa Fe police face the challenge of keeping the community safe with a budget that’s tightened because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Police and city officials picked over the department’s proposed 2021 budget during a three-hour finance hearing Friday, with everyone agreeing that hard decisions must be made because there is $3.5 million less to spend than last year.

The slimmer budget comes as a newly formed task force looks into how to use community policing both for public safety and public health. Such policing could include creating a team to deal with cases that call for more social workers and medical personnel, such as assisting homeless people who are illegally camping and possibly infected with the coronavirus.

Santa Fe police Chief Andrew Padilla said he doesn’t oppose the idea of dedicating a team to handle public health complaints, whether it’s someone passed out in a park or an unmasked person in public, as long as it’s not done at the expense of police staffing.

“Right now to defund the police would definitely hurt us and affect our response times out the door,” Padilla said. “This budget — over 70 percent is for salaries and benefits. The rest is to pay the bills. There’s no fluff in there.”

The Finance Committee, which comprises five city councilors, voted to pass the budget to the full City Council for further discussion.

Line-item cuts showed up most in the administrative budget, which would drop to $8.45 million from last year’s $11.8 million. The operations budget would be $75,000 less than the previous fiscal year.

One of the more austere cutbacks would be vehicle purchases. The police department is budgeted for three to four new vehicles, versus the 23 to 26 it normally buys in a year.

The smaller vehicle purchase would have to be made up later, Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said, estimating the department might have to buy three dozen vehicles or more next fiscal year.

The department now has 182 employees, 169 of whom are officers.

There are 23 job vacancies for officers, Padilla said, adding that if the department could fill 13 of those slots, it would be in good shape.

City Councilor Signe Lindell said that if Padilla gets the officers he wants, then the remaining 10 jobs should go to the civilian team.

Padilla expressed reluctance to lose any police jobs. He said that if those jobs are given to case workers or health experts, then the city must assess how well a reduced police force is handling the workload.

City Councilor Renee Villarreal, who is helping to lead the task force, said she supports employing social workers to handle calls involving people with mental health issues, but she doesn’t want to deprive the police of necessary staffing.

“I don’t know what the magic number is right now,” Villarreal said. “We want to make sure that our officers have the tools and resources to be successful. And simultaneously to look at the structure that they work under — that is functional, that is just, that is fair. Not just for our officers but also for the community that pays their salaries.”

Padilla noted that law enforcement has become competitive in recruitment, making it more difficult to hire and retain officers.

The Santa Fe Police Department use $15,000 signing incentives to lure experienced officers and $1,000 for cadets, Padilla said, noting this recruitment fund must be replenished soon.

Padilla said there are eight to 10 officer recruits they could hire now to help bring staffing to the needed level.

“What I want is that backing from you all that I’m not just going to be limited to five police officer positions,” Padilla said.

Committee members also grilled Padilla and Valdez on whether the department plans to buy weaponry and equipment that would militarize police.

Valdez said there is no new lethal weaponry in the budget, but there is money earmarked to replace aging Tasers with new high-tech ones.

The department is making headway in fixing the deficiencies in the records room, Valdez said.

They’re installing new shelves, replacing the alarm system and cameras, and buying new record-keeping software, he said.

They’ve also hired three evidence technicians and a supervisor, he said. The only expense for next year’s budget is buying storage bins, he added.

“It’s been really challenging … but we’re on track and everything is looking good,” Valdez said.