Manteca will be adding at least five more police officers over the next three years.
And it’s because the city has landed a federal grant for $625,000 to augment local funding sources to hire and retain the positions.
That will boost the authorized sworn officer positions to 83.
There are currently 78 officers budgeted.
Of those, 76 are on the job with another two in the process of being hired.
The plan is to hire two of the five officers this year, one in 2025 and the other two in 2026.
With at least 83 officers on the job in 2026, Manteca will still lag behind per capita police officers when compared to Tracy and Lathrop as well as other nearby jurisdictions.
There is a general consensus among many that cities should aim for one officer per 1,000 residents.
That said, there is no such standard established by federal or state entities or even professional law enforcement groups.
And while law enforcement leaders don’t dismiss the need for more officers, they caution if a city has less than 1 per 1,000 residents it doesn’t mean they are not doing an effective job.
Based on current population growth, Manteca will likely have 94,000 residents by the end of 2026.
Using the projected 83 officers as a yardstick, that means Manteca will be 11 officers shy of the 1 per 1,000 ratio.
The acceptance of the grant — the latest in a series of City Council decisions — arguably makes the current era at City Hall the most productive when it comes to making law enforcement more effective.
Among the other initiatives:
*Taking the ranks of the police department up from 75 to 78 officers in the last three years.
*Committing funds to increase the number of license plate readers significantly at key locations in the city.
*Requiring those who buy homes in new subdivisions — and subsequent buyers that eventually purchase them as resales — to pay extra annual assessments to hire more officers. There are now 1,997 future homes with that condition.
*Taking steps to plan for and fund a new police facility that was first deemed inadequate In terms of size and configuration back in 2002 when the city had 51,000 residents, some 39,000 less than today.
*Imposing extra fees on new development such as the 738-home Hat Ranch to help fund a new police station at $2,000 a home (overall $1,476,000).
That is in addition plans coming forward for a red light camera proposal for consideration within the next several months.
The council also has indicated it will work toward putting a measure on the ballot to seek increased funding for public safety.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring and Retention Grant requires a local match of roughly 30 percent over the initial four years and a commitment the positions will be retained.
City Manager Toni Lundgren indicated the council’s decision to make a conservative adjustment to reserves of the Measure M public safety half cent sales tax along with expected general fund growth will allow Manteca to cover the poisons going forward.
The last time Manteca received a COPS grant was in 2008-2009.
It allowed the city to hire four of the 16 officers back that were laid off due to budget cuts triggered by the Great Recession.
The federal government’s anticipated outcomes of the COPS program awards include engagement in planned community partnerships, implementation of projects to analyze and assess problems, implementation of changes to personnel and agency management in support of community policing, and increased capacity of agency to engage in community policing activities.
Council credited the annual San Joaquin One Voice trip to Washington, D.C., and the ability to meet with bureaucrats that divvy up the competitive COPS funding for the city’s success at obtaining the money.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
