Addressing the Inefficiency of the Sheriff’s Hiring Process Compared to the SFPD

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) is currently facing significant challenges in its hiring process, particularly when compared to the more streamlined and efficient practices of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). The inefficiencies within the Sheriff’s hiring process have contributed to prolonged recruitment times and hindered our ability to attract and retain qualified candidates. It is essential to highlight these issues and propose actionable solutions to address them.

Sheriff Miyamoto slow hiring

 

Inefficiency in the Written Exam Process

One of the primary areas of inefficiency within the Sheriff’s hiring process is the written exam. The Sheriff requires candidates to take the NTN (National Testing Network) exam, which is not as widely accepted as the PELLET B exam used by the SFPD and many other law enforcement agencies across California. The PELLET B exam offers several advantages:

  • Acceptance by Multiple Agencies: PELLET B scores are accepted by numerous law enforcement agencies, allowing candidates to use their existing certified scores from other jurisdictions. This eliminates the need for candidates to take multiple written exams and streamlines the application process.
  • Accessibility: There are more testing locations for the PELLET B exam throughout California, making it more convenient and accessible for candidates.
  • Efficiency: Offering both the PELLET B and NTN exams would provide candidates with more options and streamline the hiring process, making it more efficient and candidate-friendly.

Despite these clear advantages, the Sheriff has refused to fully adopt the PELLET B exam, opting instead to continue using the NTN exam. This decision has resulted in unnecessary barriers for potential candidates and has contributed to longer recruitment times.

Comparison of Hiring Timelines

The inefficiencies in the Sheriff’s hiring process are further highlighted by comparing the recruitment timelines of the Sheriff and the SFPD. The SFPD has managed to streamline its hiring process, achieving recruitment times of 6 to 8 months. In contrast, the Sheriff’s recruitment timeline ranges from 9 to 18 months, significantly longer than that of the SFPD. This extended timeline is a major deterrent for potential candidates and hampers our ability to fill critical positions promptly.

Use of Technology in the Interview Process

Another area where the Sheriff lags behind the SFPD is in the use of technology for interviews. The SFPD has embraced modern technology by conducting interviews via video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. This approach not only speeds up the hiring process but also makes it more convenient for candidates who may have scheduling or geographical constraints. In contrast, the Sheriff still insists on in-person interviews, which are time-consuming and less flexible. Adopting video conferencing for interviews would be a significant step towards modernizing our hiring process and reducing recruitment times.

Implemented Suggestions

While the Sheriff has accepted our suggestion to waive the online test fees for the NTN exam, this partial measure does not fully address the underlying inefficiencies in the hiring process. Waiving the fees is a positive step, but it falls short of the comprehensive changes needed to make the Sheriff’s hiring process more efficient and competitive.

Authority to Hire Above Entry Step

Another inefficiency in the Sheriff’s hiring process is the refusal to hire above the entry step, despite having the authority to do so. In 2022, Employee Relations Director Ardis Graham confirmed that the Sheriff has the power to hire above Step 1 to attract more entry level applicants. However, this authority has not been utilized, further hindering our entry level recruitment efforts. Hiring at Step 2 would make the Sheriff more competitive and attractive to potential candidates, yet this strategy remains underutilized.

The current inefficiencies in the Sheriff’s hiring process are a significant barrier to attracting and retaining qualified candidates. By adopting the PELLET B exam, offering both test options, utilizing video conferencing for interviews, and exercising the authority to hire above the entry step, the Sheriff can streamline its hiring process and reduce recruitment times. These changes are essential to ensuring that our department is adequately staffed and capable of meeting the demands of our community.

It is time for the Sheriff to take decisive action to address these inefficiencies and implement the necessary changes to improve our hiring process. The SFDSA remains committed to advocating for these improvements and will continue to push for the adoption of more efficient and effective recruitment practices.

Forced Overtime at San Francisco Sheriff’s Office

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has a history of conducting salary savings.  Salary savings is a scheme to reduce hiring and offer overtime to existing employees.  In small cases it may be okay since the department can offer overtime to volunteers but over the years the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has taken it to an extreme ordering our deputy sheriff members mandated overtime involuntarily.

For the purposes of this article, “salary savings” will be defined as the practice of keeping open positions unfilled so as to reduce budgetary outlays. In the practice, current employees are asked and often mandated to work overtime hours to cover the gaps created by non-hiring. As numerous articles and internal documents will show, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has engaged in salary savings for at least the last decade. While this has resulted in higher wages due to overtime payments, it has more significantly resulted in force attrition and individual exhaustion. This practice is not sustainable.

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has at times requested and at times mandated that its deputies work excessive hours of overtime to cover staffing shortages. As the Controller’s Annual Overtime Report (FY 2017-18) states, “[t]he distribution of overtime in the Department is highly skewed.” It has rewarded some, those willing to work extravagant amounts of time, with salaries far exceeding their base and it has also hastened the retirement of those who value their days off and their health. Meanwhile, until very recently, the Department has not incurred new pensions or benefit costs and has not had to train new employees sufficient to fill its roster. As numerous documents have shown, by encouraging and demanding overtime and by failing to hire new deputies, the Department has engaged in salary savings for at least the last decade.

Fast forward to present time, the Sheriff’s Office has gone further with this practice and implemented more salary savings.  As of a January 2021, the Sheriff’s Office had approx. 203 vacant full time employee openings.  It most likely is even higher now.  The Sheriff Office now mandates more overtime and blocks volunteers, in most cases, from working overtime forcing more deputy sheriffs to work involuntarily and in most cases forced to work with last minute notice.  You can only imagine how disruptive this is to the deputy sheriffs’ lives and health.

SF Deputy SheriffIn February 2021, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office prepared their budget request, within that request they only asked for funding for 44 deputy sheriff positions.  This number is extremely low with deputies retiring and leaving to other agencies as well as the existing approx. -203 full time employee vacancies.

In August 2020 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 19 out of 20 of the City’s Top Biggest Overtime Earners were deputy sheriffs.  That brought a lot of attention to the Sheriff’s Office and could expose the salary savings scheme to the voters.  So what they did next should shock you!  Instead of hiring more deputies to reduce the overtime, they are now forcing more deputies to work overtime.  They are restricting volunteers and forcing more involuntarily.  Is this a San Francisco value?

The staffing shortage not only effects the safety of employees and public but it also affects the currently incarcerated people.  Lawsuits are mounting for not allowing the currently incarcerated to have exercise time, walk time, sunshine time and now law suits over sleep deprivation.  The next lawsuit will most likely be a federal class action lawsuit over the lack of staff and conditions in the jail for violating the rights of the currently incarcerated.

While businesses continue to struggle and unemployment exceeds six percent the City gained a budget surplus of $125 Million this fiscal year 2020-2021.  So it makes you wonder why the Sheriff’s Office is so timid with it’s budget requests with such a staffing deficit.  

Download our white paper on San Francisco Sheriff’s Office Salary Savings.