SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — According to police, a man was stabbed in downtown San Diego around 10:42 p.m. on Thursday, just days after the San Diego Police Department revealed details regarding staffing shortages and the yearly budget.
SDPD is expecting to exceed its $40.2 million overtime budget by $9.2 million at the end of the Fiscal Year.
"From 2018 to 2020, we hired the most in the history of this police department. We almost got to full strength, and then 2021 and 2022 came and we've lost more than... probably almost second in the history of this police department," said Chief of Police David Nisleit during a San Diego City Council meeting on Monday.
The presentation says the cause for paying more overtime is due in part to vacancies in the department and an increase in crime throughout the city. A suspect was eventually arrested in Thursday's stabbing.
"You don't expect something so dramatic to happen like nearby," said Samantha Mirante, who lives downtown and works in the area where the stabbing happened near Third Avenue and C Street.
A spokesperson for SDPD confirmed the department is the second lowest staffed police department in the country in ratio to the area it serves.
In January, SDPD had 216 sworn officer vacancies. Both the vacancies for civilian positions and dispatchers increased by more than 100% between January 2019 and January 2023.
"There's already a lot of other issues that can be talked about when it comes to policing, and then adding a tired person into the mix who might just want to go home, that doesn't sound like the best option," said Mirante.
During the city council meeting, some suggested that the solution to exceeding the overtime budget lies in hiring more civilian employees by hiring them at a higher salary.
In 2022, SDPD was expected to exceed its overtime budget by over $7 million.
