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Richmond police officers are working 18-hour shifts, sometimes sleeping in trailers behind the police station because they do not have time to go home, Assistant Police Chief Tim Simmons told the Fairmede Hilltop Neighborhood Council on Thursday night.
Simmons described a department under extreme strain, with staffing levels at their lowest point in his 17 years with the department.
“We are authorized 147 officers, but we currently have 24 vacancies and 15 officers out on some form of long-term leave, which leaves us 108 available officers,” Simmons said. “Of those, we only have 44 officers that are available for patrol when ideally we should have at least 60 on patrol to adequately cover our beats and provide timely, consistent first responder service.”
At times, the patrol force has been reduced to as few as six or seven officers to cover the entire city, according to Simmons.
Richmond police union direct action highlights low staffing as council meeting boils over
A Richmond City Council meeting erupted in tension Tuesday night as dozens of police officers and their supporters rallied to protest low staffing and what they described as political attacks, while friends and relatives of a young man fatally shot by police demanded accountability and transparency. The rally, organized by
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The result is delayed emergency responses and exhausted officers. Simmons said a recently added sleep trailer was intended to prevent officers from driving home dangerously tired and to provide them with a few hours of rest before returning to work.
The city purchased the trailer in December 2022 for $184,000, using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The purchase followed reports of officers sleeping in their cars or empty offices between shifts due to staffing shortages. According to a city report, one officer fell asleep at the wheel and crashed while driving home, and others described having to pull off the freeway to avoid falling asleep.
During a recent police department tour for new officers and their families, Simmons said the trailer sparked emotional reactions.
“I had a mom and I had a wife shoot their hand up faster than I could finish my sentence,” he recalled. “The wife said, ‘I don’t want my husband sleeping at the police department. Why do you have sleep trailers here?’”
Simmons explained that it was because of the 18-hour shifts. “That only leaves six hours until they have to come back for their next shift,” he said. “If they could sleep instead of spending half an hour driving home and half an hour driving back, when they are only going to get three or four hours of sleep, it’s safer for everyone.”
Report: Richmond Police staffing levels ‘seriously deficient’ to meet the needs of the public
A report on public safety staffing requested by the Richmond City Council has called the current police staffing levels ‘seriously deficient’ to meet the needs of the public and said officer turnover at the Richmond Police Department was an “unsustainable crisis.” The report by Matrix Consulting Group created a data
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District Four Councilmember Soheila Bana spoke in support of the department and urged residents to advocate for officers.
“Police are in charge of evacuation by state law if there is a major disaster like a wildfire. So it’s not just crime they’re dealing with,” Bana said. “They also deal with human trafficking and do all sorts of charity work. It is very important to not only support the police but also remember they are city employees. They deserve respect, and unfortunately, I see they’re under attack, under direct and indirect insults even in City Hall and city council meetings.”
Richmond mayoral candidate Ahmad Anderson said political divisions are making the situation worse.
“If you care about the importance of seeing great community policing, you’ve got to step up and speak up and show up at the city council meetings and say you do support [the police], because what I feel, and I hear it here, is the community is polarized,” Anderson said. “They are literally taking hits from leaders that sit on that city council, instead of looking at how we can do better to bring the community together.”
District Four candidate Jamin Pursell asked Simmons what residents can do to help change perceptions of policing.
“We talk about community and how to bring people together,” Pursell said. “How do we really change the narrative so we’re talking not just about any police, but Richmond police officers and how they’re making a difference here? What can we do to help facilitate them?”
Richmond officials push back on grand jury police staffing report
A Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury report criticizing Richmond’s approach to police staffing has triggered a wave of pushback from city officials and police union leaders, reviving tensions over a controversial 2021 decision to reallocate $3 million from the Richmond Police Department. Councilmember Doria Robinson, who introduced the
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Simmons urged residents to keep pressing for a fully staffed, fully supported police department and to push for the return of a permanent police station.
Simmons said he is committed to accountability and high standards even as the department struggles to recruit and retain officers.
“There is a strong commitment to holding people accountable in this profession, in this city,” Simmons said. “Every officer, we are held to higher standards, and with that higher standard comes higher expectations.”
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