Crime is rising and will continue to climb unless the Police Department gets more funding, San Diego’s top cop warned a City Council committee Wednesday.
The comments came as the committee considered a $66 million plan to rebuild the Police Department over the next five years. Police want to hire more cops and civilian staff, buy new equipment and repair existing facilities.
After years of budget cuts, police argue their resources — especially staffing — have become stretched too thin and crime is getting out of their control.
“It’s starting to get away from us a little bit,” Police Chief Bill Lansdowne told the committee. “It’s my professional belief that the crime rate will continue to rise.”
Police statistics back up the trend so far this year. Between January and May, San Diego police reported a 12.6 percent jump in major crimes compared to the same period in the previous year.