Mayor Gloria Says Absorbing Harbor Police Could Ease San Diego’s Officer Shortage

After years of struggling to hire and retain police officers, Mayor Todd Gloria says it may be time to consider a new approach to closing the shortage: a merger with the Harbor Police.

“We have a Harbor Police department that consists of about 140 police officers that basically has overlapping jurisdiction,” Gloria said at a Politifest panel Saturday. The panel also featured Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and Aimee Faucett, president of Agenda Setting and previously the chief of staff for Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

The San Diego Police Department has a staffing shortfall of about 200 officers. Gloria said the city currently has about 1,822 officers, and aims to get to 2,000. He also suggested the city use drones and AI technology to save officers time.

San Diego’s staffing struggles have contributed to lagging response times and massive overtime spending, which is especially problematic as the city nears the possibility of mid-year budget cuts.

“In this time of real challenges financially, we should be asking ourselves fundamental questions about the way we’ve chosen to organize ourselves and wonder if we can be more efficient,” Gloria said.

This idea came as a surprise to many, including the Harbor Police.

“Mayor Gloria’s suggestion to merge Harbor Police with San Diego Police has not been discussed between the Port and the City of San Diego and it will not be entertained,” Port CEO Scott Chadwick wrote in a memo to staff Monday evening.

The memo explains that the proposal is jurisdictionally complicated because the Harbor Police also operate along the coastlines of Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City. Additionally, the state law that created the Port of San Diego mandates that the agency maintain its own police force.

Sounds like a job for the boundary refs over at the Local Agency Formation Commission, which have the power to bring local agencies into or out of existence.

LAFCO already fought to subject the Port to greater oversight following an onslaught of bad press last year, including a dispute with National City over police jurisdictions. The Port is now under review by LAFCO, according to the commission’s Executive Officer Keene Simonds, which will assess how well the Port is functioning.

Simmonds recognized that such a merger would be complicated, but was encouraged by Gloria’s willingness to beg the question.

“The San Diego Port is a separate legal government agency, so it would have to be a negotiated agreement,” Simonds said. “At the end of the day, the question is, do the two agencies’ police protection services have enough commonality in their mission to make it work?”

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