Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
San Diego, CA
Audit recommends overtime limits for San Diego police, mandatory breaks between shifts
By David Garrick
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — San Diego should set limits on how many overtime hours police officers can work and begin requiring officers to take breaks of at least eight hours between shifts, a new city audit says.
The Police Department’s lack of overtime limits and mandatory breaks between shifts raise the risks of officer fatigue, which can cause car crashes, injuries and reduced cognition in life-or-death situations, the audit says.
The roughly $50 million per year San Diego spends on police overtime is below average relative to comparable large cities in California, the audit says.
But the city could get more for its money by creating a centralized overtime system instead of letting each of the department’s nine geographic divisions handle its own overtime assignments.
The 41-page audit says this change would allow the department to prioritize more important overtime shifts, which vary from court appearances to SWAT incidents to backfilling vacant shifts caused by staffing shortages.
“The Police Department does not prioritize overtime shifts based on need, creating the risk that more critical assignments go unfilled while officers sign up for less critical shifts,” the audit says.
Typical officers only work about three and a half hours of overtime per week, but there are some outlier officers who work extreme amounts, the audit says.
The audit found that some officers work days of 16 hours or longer for multiple days in a row and that they typically don’t take eight hours off between shifts. A San Diego police officer’s normal work week is four 10-hour shifts.
Setting limits, either daily or weekly, on overtime hours would curb those outliers and reduce the fatigue risk they create, the audit says.
San Jose, Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland limit how many overtime hours an officer can work in a single week, but Los Angeles and Long Beach don’t.
Locally, police departments in Carlsbad, National City and Coronado have weekly overtime limits for officers.
San Diego already recommends officers take an eight-hour break between shifts, but it’s not mandated.
“The Police Department encourages officers to take an eight-hour break between shifts, but it is an informal policy that is not enforced,” the audit says.
The audit made some additional recommendations related to the eight-hour break proposal.
“The Police Department should clearly define what constitutes a ‘shift’ and should clarify the specific situations that would merit an officer not taking an eight-hour break between shifts, such as officers approved to extend their current shift, a necessary court appearance, a call-back that has been approved by policy, or an emergency,” the audit says.
The audit was prompted by City Council members expressing frustration that police overtime expenses continue to rise and that the city spends more than expected on police overtime nearly every year.
San Diego has spent more than was budgeted for police overtime during 10 of the last 11 fiscal years — including fiscal 2023, when the city budgeted $40.2 million but spent $50.8 million.
Police officials said this week that they expect to spend $57.1 million during the ongoing fiscal year, $7.8 million more than the $49.3 million in the city’s budget.
The audit says San Diego’s spending is mostly in line with comparable cities in California.
In fiscal year 2022, San Diego spent 6.8 percent of its total police budget on overtime, which is less than the average of 8.6 percent spent by comparable police departments.
Los Angeles spent 10.8 percent of its police budget on overtime, while Oakland spent 10.2 percent, Anaheim spent 9.6 percent, San Jose spent 9.3 percent and San Francisco spent 8.2 percent.
Only Bakersfield, at 4.3 percent, was below San Diego among larger California cities.
But San Diego’s spending on overtime jumped to 8.6 percent in fiscal year 2023 — $50.8 million of a $594 million police budget.
Police Chief David Nisleit agreed Tuesday to analyze and possibly implement each of the audit’s recommendations, but he noted that many of the changes would require negotiations with labor unions representing the affected workers.
But the changes aren’t likely to come quickly. Nisleit committed to having the department’s Research, Analysis and Planning Unit complete analysis of the proposed changes by December 2025.
The audit’s final recommendation was for the department to revive a plan to reduce officer overtime by hiring more civilian workers and police investigative service officers, who do lower-level work than police officers.
Last year, Nisleit said a rash of vacancies in civilian jobs was reducing parking citation revenue and swelling overtime costs by forcing higher-paid uniformed officers to perform lower-level administrative work.
Nisleit agreed Tuesday to study the issue again, but noted that he asked for 20 investigative service officers two years ago after a similar analysis and was not given money to hire them.
But the budget for the ongoing fiscal year includes $780,000 for 10 investigative service officers. Police officials said Monday that they haven’t yet hired those workers.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
—
©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
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