As Buena Park anticipates new tax dollars to start rolling in this year, city leaders are making moves to bolster the city’s police department by adding four new police officers.

Last week, Buena Park City Council members unanimously approved expanding the city’s police force  – a move that has been brewing since last year as part of a larger expansion to the Buena Park Police Department.

It comes just months after Buena Park voters approved a 1% sales tax hike this past November, known as Measure R, which is anticipated to bring in $20 million in tax dollars.

The city’s sales tax now sits at 8.75% – making it the second highest sales tax rate in Orange County alongside cities like Stanton, Placentia, La Palma and Fountain Valley.

“I see this as just the start of ensuring that we’re putting adequate resources into public safety,” said Councilman Connor Traut during last Tuesday’s council meeting.

He highlighted that adding police officers helps address concerns of residents wanting more funding toward keeping the streets safe.

According to a staff report, a community survey last year that received roughly 2,000 responses showed that public safety – along with maintaining emergency services and keeping public spaces clean – was a top priority for residents.

At the same meeting, Assistant City Manager Eddie Fenton said that the roughly $200,000 to be added to this year’s budget would be for 6 months of compensation for potential hires as the city’s police department looks to fill the positions.

Sgt. Jon Shaddow, Buena Park Police Department’s public information officer, did not respond to calls for comment on Thursday.

Will the City Start Seeing More Police Officers?

For some on Buena Park’s city council, adding police officers isn’t solely an issue of stretching the city’s budget.

In a Wednesday text message, Councilwoman Susan Sonne said she “fully supports the permanent addition of four police officers,” adding that many complaints from residents involved wanting officers for reporting incidents of theft or traffic accidents.

Like other OC cities, Sonne has said in recent years that many municipalities are figuring out how to manage their budgets to maintain essential services like police and emergency responses. 

She highlighted that in 2022 – a time when Buena Park city council members wanted to add more police officers – that the city had a hard time finding candidates to fill those positions.

Last year, Buena Park officials began to lay the groundwork for increasing funding to Buena Park PD following a report from a consulting firm that said the city’s police department “could begin to fail” due to the department being understaffed.

The report was first presented last July and voted on by the Buena Park City Council before being released to the public.

Despite the report not being public, Buena Park officials moved forward with recommendations from a consulting firm, Municipal Resource Group, to find ways to add 15 police officers within five years.

[Read: Can Buena Park Afford to Hire 15 Police Officers?]

This would cost the city about $6 million to do so.

Adding 15 police officers would be a 16% expansion of the city’s police department

Currently, Buena Park is facing a roughly $3 million budget deficit in the fiscal year. The city is anticipating a $97 million general fund budget.

Hugo Rios is a Voice of OC reporting fellow. Contact him at hugo.toni.rios@gmail.com or on Twitter @hugoriosss.