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A cash-strapped California city is slashing police department staff — sparking warnings that critical evidence could pile up, arrest paperwork could stall and criminal cases could get caught in the crossfire.
Hollister, a Democratic-leaning city grappling with a financial squeeze, has axed civilian police employees and a captain, prompting alarm from the local police association over potential disruptions to basic law enforcement operations.
One major challenge involves 33,000 pieces of evidence that still need to be transferred between reporting systems, according to the Hollister Police Officers Association.
The association warns the staffing cuts could snarl operations across the department, delaying reports and leaving cases unprepared for prosecutors and courts.
“The officers don’t have the training to process. The reports we have cannot be processed,” Bo Leland of the association told KSBW 8, warning that the full consequences of the cuts have yet to emerge.
The job losses hit employees responsible for police records, evidence processing, vehicle maintenance and support for officers on patrol — work that keeps the department running behind the scenes.
City leaders plan to fill seven vacant police officer positions, but the association argues that hiring more cops won’t make up for the civilian workers needed to handle the department’s day-to-day workload.
Jennifer Corona, a records employee who lost her job, warned the cuts could have consequences far beyond the police station.
“Nothing is going to [the] DA, nothing is going to the court,” Corona told KSBW 8.
The layoffs have also taken an emotional toll on departing workers. Officers lined up outside in their patrol cars as colleagues prepared to leave, a show of support that caught employees by surprise.
“I felt like I was at a funeral; that’s what it felt like,” Corona said.
Another laid-off records employee, Jenelle Hoefling, told the station that workers had some warning that cuts were coming but did not realize how extensive they would be.
City officials say the budget crisis stems from expenses outpacing revenue, arguing the painful cuts are needed to stave off insolvency and preserve essential services in the long run.
However, the police association says it had sought involvement in budget decisions and was excluded from the process.