SAPD proposes staff realignments, 49 new officers and an expanded drone program in FY2027 budget

Chief Salome presented the SAPD budget proposal and framed it as a mix of constrained discretionary spending and targeted investments to keep officers where they are most needed.

The department enumerated approximately $4,900,000 in proposed revenue enhancements—largely from fees for towing, alarms, records and e‑citations—and about $5,300,000 in reductions driven mainly by overtime control. Salome attributed the larger share of the overall cost increase to collective bargaining, healthcare and second‑year costs for officers added in the prior fiscal year.

Salome said SAPD will add 49 officer positions: 27 are tied to the future Airport Terminal C (funded through the airport and a COPS grant) and 22 will transfer from parks as responsibilities shift. The department also plans to reassign six patrol detectives into homicide and the special victims unit while hiring three civilian crime‑scene investigators to absorb some investigative tasks.

On technology and aviation, SAPD described a strategy to expand its drone unit to reduce helicopter hours and deliver savings. Acting assistant chief noted drones currently fly only a few hours per day; expansion could double or more of that usage and produce estimated annual savings of roughly $150,000–$500,000 depending on hours transferred from the helicopter. “The helicopter cost about $1,200 an hour to operate,” the acting assistant chief said when explaining the rationale.

Council members raised questions about whether identified department savings could fund additional ’safe officers’ for districts, about impacts of eliminating an automated public‑notification system (an $822,000 reduction), and about the arrestee firearm‑return fee SAPD proposes to charge to recover processing costs.

Salome and staff committed to follow up with more detailed cost breakdowns, the status of the South Flores Substation (substantial completion expected April 2027; move‑in June 2027) and analyses the council requested on community‑level call volumes and potential causes for changing call patterns.