Human Resource Services Bureau
Attracting and retaining qualified people is one of the main functions
of the Human Resource Services Bureau (HRSB). With a budget of more than
$17 million, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department concentrated on a
proactive and aggressive campaign to seek qualified candidates to fill
our vacancies. In addition to our Recruiting Unit, there were a wide
range of services provided by HRSB, including the Personnel Unit which
provides background checks, computer voice stress analyzer tests, and
processes all new employees.
The Personnel Unit also provided career
path assistance for all sworn staff and had comparable services
available for professional staff. The unit also worked closely with HRSB
Command Staff to process promotions and retirements. The Personnel and
Payroll Units worked very closely to ensure all information in our
system of record was accurate. HRSB is also responsible for various
types of training for the department’s new and tenured employees. The
Risk Management and Medical Liaison Unit also function within HRSB and
managed all health-related issues for the department. Employee Relations
provided quality employee relations services to managers and employees
of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which include labor
negotiations, discipline and grievance administration, management-union
relations, consultations with operating department managers and human
resources management.
Reaching Out
In 2008, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department made several changes and
incorporated innovative ideas into its recruiting program. These changes
have helped increase the pool of applicants and ultimately placed the
department in the forefront of recruiting. Throughout the year,
recruiters traveled to various career fairs, military events and
educational institutions to attract quality and diverse candidates to
the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
In all, recruiters;
- Attended 72 recruiting-related events in and outside San Diego County.
- Responded to almost 10,000 recruiting related phone calls and e-mail.
- Tested nearly 4,000 applicants.
Maintaining High Standards
The above mentioned aggressive hiring campaign resulted in a large
increase in training academy cadets. HRSB placed 184 cadets into the
Regional Law Enforcement Academy and 144 cadets into the Sheriff’s
Detentions-Courts Service Academy, as well 24 lateral and open enrollee
graduate candidates hired for both the Law Enforcement and Detentions
Units. The department hired 259 new sworn employees in 2008. These
cumulative efforts resulted in a low of 28 sworn vacancies, equating to
a 1% vacancy rate.
The Training Unit met that challenge and increased training for our
tenured employees. The In-Service Training Unit kept abreast of national
and local trends and interpreted that data to design excellent training
programs for members of the department. The In-Service Training Unit
provided many courses ranging from traffic investigation to Taser
familiarization. This arduous task proved successful with the many
courses offered not only to Sheriff’s deputies, but also to outside law
enforcement officers throughout the state. The In-Service Training Unit
conducted a staggering 41,196 hours of POST certified training for sworn
members of the Sheriff’s Department.
The Sheriff’s Weapons Training Unit (WTU) provided numerous firearm
courses throughout 2008, such as, firearm and rifle instructor classes,
firearm safety classes, less-lethal training as well as two department
wide qualifications for more than 2,400 employees. WTU’s mobile armory
helped to service more than 2,000 weapons for 1,400 deputies. The
department’s mobile armory greatly increased the ability to travel to
the respective commands and service weapons immediately. Many
construction projects were performed at the Sheriff’s ranges and Duffytown to help the unit’s training effectiveness.
The Sheriff’s Canine Unit conducted three canine academies and trained
eight dogs in 2008. A rural canine training facility was built in
Ranchita which helped to localize the training for our rural canine
handlers. In 2008, the canine unit apprehended 271 suspects, conducted
2,339 security checks and 330 building searches.
The Professional Staff Training Unit is responsive to the needs of our
professional staff members and is continually designing and providing
new courses that will continue to keep our department on the cutting
edge of law enforcement services. A myriad of courses designed to
enhance and improve the skills and supervision techniques of our
professional staff members were offered. There were more than 12,881
hours of training offered to our professional staff. The ever-changing
and expanding Sheriff’s Department welcomed 170 new professional staff
in 2008.
The Risk Management and Medical Liaison Units were responsible for
coordinating health and safety issues for approximately 4,000 employees.
They handled issues with worker’s compensation, all types of illness and
injury leave, and worked to ensure a safe work environment.
The Payroll Unit was responsible for ensuring the accurate and
appropriate compensation for approximately 4,000 employees. They were
committed to seeking innovative ways to improve production and working
relationships with all of those they support.
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