SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose police officers are calling in sick far more than ever before — and it's probably not just the sniffles.
The yearlong, pronounced spike in sick time — up an astonishing 40 percent from the year before — comes during a stressful season of layoffs, pay cuts and talk of major pension reform. It's also occurring as the city is suffering its highest level of homicides in 14 years, even as the department has been slashed to its lowest staffing level in two decades.
Because there have been so many sick calls, the department has sent out smaller than usual patrols or asked tired officers to extend their shifts. And some believe the issue may be undermining the safety of the city.
SJPD did not release information on sick time used by individual officers, units or shifts. But a request for five years of sick leave data by this newspaper shows that in 2011, SJPD employees — of which officers make up the lion's share — have called in sick for 132,340 hours so far. That's an 81 percent increase over the same period just four years ago, when the department had hundreds more employees.
"The stress level is very, very high among officers in a field that is already very stressful to begin with,'' said police Chief Chris Moore. "That might be driving a lot of this sick time."
In one telling indicator of how the increase affects patrol strength, in previous years police built in an expectation that about five officers could call in sick during a single shift. This year there have been shifts in which 13 or more officers called in sick.
The increase has Moore rethinking staffing models, seeking reforms and internally investigating officers who have a suspiciously high number of sick hours.
Why are so many cops choosing to nurse their coughs and colds — or whatever ails them — at home this year? There are indications an unorganized blue flu of disenchanted, demoralized officers may be at least partially to blame for the spike, according to city and department officials, union leaders and officers themselves.
Some of the cops who were laid off earlier this year may have used their sick time to find new jobs. Some veteran officers may be burning through banks of built-up sick time because of fears they may lose the leave they earned over the years. Some may be using sick leave for family functions and other personal concerns because the short-staffed department is much stingier about granting requests for days off.
Some officers also privately say that in the past they worked while sick out of loyalty and dedication. Now, stung by contract givebacks and criticism by city leaders, they are more apt to just stay home.
As Sgt. Jim Unland, the president of the officers' union, put it: "Morale is in the toilet."
He said he expected depressed, exhausted officers to call in sick even more in coming months. Moore agreed.
It's difficult to compare the sick leave with other departments, whose accounting methods are different. But it's certainly been a queasy year for the San Jose Police Department. In July, the already shrinking department laid off 65 officers, its first layoffs ever. Officers have widely complained of their treatment at the hands of city leaders, who have pushed through a pay cut and are advocating for more reforms to get labor costs under control to deal with a historic city deficit. One of the proposals has been to cap or eliminate banks of sick leave time.
Officers get 96 hours of sick time a year. For about 20 years, that time could be banked and cashed out when a vested officer retired. Now that policy is looking like it could end or be seriously restricted.
Mayor Chuck Reed acknowledged that officers were taking off sick time because sick time cash-out was an endangered policy.
"This could save $10 million a year — enough to keep more than 40 police officers on the beat or keep 10 libraries open," he said. In fiscal year 2009-10, sick leave payouts cost $14.6 million, according to city figures.
Unland had a different perspective: "For 20 years we've been told not to use our sick time because the city has always said they would pay us for our unused sick time. Now that we have city leaders who appear to be going back on their word, the sense of betrayal our officers are feeling is strong."
Even Moore has openly hinted that he may retire if all of his accumulated sick time — valued at tens of thousands of dollars — is stripped away.
City Manager Debra Figone acknowledged this has been a very stressful year for all city employees, who have all given back pay and benefits as the city struggles to fill a multimillion-plus budget gap. "Nevertheless, my expectation is that department directors ensure that employees use sick time appropriately and do not abuse this benefit," Figone said.
Cops say their reaction is perfectly natural.
"If you don't want to be at work, then you will find a way not to be at work," one veteran officer said.
And officers say the bottom line is a more dangerous city.
"It might be marginally unsafe for the officers to go out with fewer people," another officer said. "We make accommodations. But it's absolutely more unsafe for San Jose."