Sacramento police end contracts with SacRT and Natomas Unified School District amid staffing shortage.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Police Department says it’s facing a staffing crisis and is now turning to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for help.

The department recently ended its contracts with Sacramento Regional Transit and the Natomas Unified School District due to staffing shortages. Police say that starting in January, officers will no longer be assigned to those areas — a move they describe as necessary because of ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining officers.

Dustin Smith, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, said the department is operating well below what it should be.

“I would describe what is happening at the Sacramento Police Department as a staffing crisis,” Smith said. “By this time next year, we’ll be at half staff.”

Smith said the department currently has between 630 and 640 officers, but he believes a city the size of Sacramento should have no fewer than 1,050 sworn officers — and ideally closer to 1,200, given it’s the state capital.

To fill in the gaps, Sacramento Regional Transit said the 11 police officers previously assigned to the system will be replaced with nine deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Amar Gandhi with the sheriff’s office said the department is in a better position to help.

“We’ll actually supplement that with sheriff’s employees,” Gandhi said. “Our academies are filled. We’re running two to three a year. So, we’ve been really fortunate in our circumstance right now.”

At Natomas Unified School District, the superintendent told families that the district will create a new high-level school safety position at each high school to make up for the loss of three school resource officers.

While Sacramento police say they will still respond to emergencies at Regional Transit and the school district, Smith said pay and hiring standards have made recruitment difficult.

“We make less money than the groups around us,” Smith said. “We have a higher educational requirement … and a very strict background process.”

A spokesperson for the city manager’s office said Sacramento continues to face a budget deficit tied to inflation, pension liabilities, insurance costs, labor agreements and expanding service demands. The city plans to present a proposed budget by the end of April 2026 and is looking at ways to increase revenue and reduce costs.

Police added that operations at the Golden 1 Center will not be affected since those officers are typically off-duty and paid by the arena. Mayor Kevin McCarty did not provide a comment.

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