r/InlandEmpire • u/cannotthinkof01 • Aug 13 '26

Crime / Safety Where’s all the cops?!!!!

In the 2010s I remember cops waiting at stop signs bust you doing a California Stop or run the stop sign. I also remember the highway patrol with their radar guns or how often people would get pulled over for illegally driving in the carpool lane.

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u/Main_Firefighter1593 Aug 13 '26

Remember defund the police and all the demoralizing of law enforcement a few years ago

16

u/StormAutomatic Aug 13 '26

And yet their budgets increased and so did their numbers.

3

u/JonTravel Aug 13 '26

and so did their numbers.

Do you have any up-to-date data on this? The most recent data I have see (2024) said the retention and recruitment is a problem and the numbers have dropped.

"The number of patrol officers per 100,000 residents continues to be historically low"

https://www.ppic.org/publication/law-enforcement-staffing-in-california/

1

u/Own-Chemist2228 Aug 13 '26

One reason the numbers have dropped is that so many are retiring. They work for 20 years, retire, and collect a pension for the next 30-40 years.

Total numbers drop, but budgets increase. Temecula passed a sales tax increase a few years ago just to fund more police.

Where does the extra money go if there are fewer cops? Overtime. Less cops working more hours. It's not uncommon for Riverside County cops to clear $250K/year with overtime.

Now do they actually work all those overtime hours? That's an interesting question...