(FOX40.COM) — Earlier this month, the Peace Officers Research Association of California released a revealing study on the impact of law enforcement staffing shortages across the state.

The study found California counties now have fewer than two officers for every 1,000 residents, which is about half the nationwide average. More specifically, the study says, “Only 2 of California’s 58 counties exceed the national average of 3.5 officers per 1,000 residents.” But here in Sacramento, law enforcement agencies are facing two very different staffing realities.

“We are just kind of in the best place we’ve been in a very long time,” said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. “There’s been the quote-unquote war on police, and you know, a lot of quote-unquote police reform and things like that. And really, it’s made a big ding as far as the efforts for… law enforcement recruiting.”

The research also quotes Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, who described the difficult reality of police recruiting today: “A big part of this problem is public perception of the law enforcement profession.”

Despite the challenge and a rigorous academy application process, SCSO said recruiting is going well.

“We’re filling up academy classes, running three academy classes a year filled with, you know, 50 to 70 people,” Gandhi said. “Just last Sunday, we had a recruiting event. We had over 200 people lined up to test and run.”

On the other hand, the Sacramento Police Department has continued to struggle with both recruiting and retaining officers.

“It could mean that there’s a delay in your and response time to a low priority… you know, call for service,” said Anthony Gamble, SPD Spokesperson.

The PORAC study found the number of active Sacramento police officers is expected to drop to below 600 next year, less than half of what’s needed to serve the city adequately, according to the study.

“We had to eliminate our positions that we were supplying to the regional transit police services. We had to eliminate the positions that we were supplying to the Natomas Unified School District,” Gamble said. “Those contracts are being absorbed back into operations, into patrol. So that way we can maintain the same level of service that people are accustomed to.”

As SPD pushes to move officers to patrol, they are also looking to widen their recruiting net. SPD even offering a pre-academy program to prep newcomers for the intensity of academy life.

“Our recruiting teams… go to colleges, they go to different events, sporting events. We’ve hired a company that helps with our social media on the recruiting side, to help drive that,” said Gamble.

For more information on joining the Sacramento Police Department, click here. For Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office recruitment information, click here.

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