Guest Opinion | Kyle Hazen: PPD Must be Fully Staffed

On the evening of January 7, the Pasadena Police Department was profoundly impacted by the onset of the Eaton Fire. On-duty officers responded immediately from their assigned areas, alongside specialized units within the department and off-duty personnel left their homes to assist. 

The courageous men and women of the Pasadena Police Department did not hesitate to act, evacuating residents from Pasadena and Altadena. Tragically, some of our own members were among the thousands who lost their homes to the devastating fire. 

Throughout the night, and in the following weeks, Pasadena Police officers worked tirelessly to meet the demands of this tragic event. Our officers worked without days off to continue evacuation efforts and secure affected areas. The Pasadena Police Officers Association and its members extend our deepest condolences to all those who lost loved ones and homes in the Eaton Fire. 

Amid the chaos and destruction of the Eaton Fire, the Pasadena Police Officers Association regrettably did not take the time to properly commend and bid farewell to many of our sworn members who parted ways with the department in 2024. Today, we wish to recognize and express our deepest gratitude to these dedicated officers for their years of service to Pasadena and its residents. 

These officers take with them a wealth of experience, not only within our city and community, but also in the deeply service-oriented profession of law enforcement. A majority of those departing are continuing their careers with other Southern California law enforcement agencies as “lateral” hires—highly trained, experienced, and proven officers recruited by outside agencies.

 These agencies often offer significant incentives, including substantial cash bonuses, higher base salary, preloaded vacation banks, city-funded family bonding time, and service credits that contribute toward department seniority and benefits. 

By hiring lateral officers, cities also save considerable expenses associated with training, which can amount to well over six figures per officer. Additionally, highly qualified laterals bring years of specialized experience from sections such as Detectives, SWAT, Field Training Officers, Traffic Investigators, Crisis Negotiators, Gang Experts, etc. 

From 2021-2023 the Pasadena Police Department lost approximately 4 officers per year to outside agencies. We have lost approximately 10 officers in the year 2024, and four in the first three months of 2025 with more in the process to leave. While we are saddened to see them go, we honor their service and wish them success in the next chapter of their careers. 

• Officer Duncan leaves Pasadena after seven years of service.
• Officer Alexander leaves Pasadena after seven years of service. Officer G. Prestwich leaves Pasadena after eleven years of service. 
• Officer Contreras leaves Pasadena after five years of service. 
• Officer Arteaga leaves Pasadena after seven years of service.
•  Officer Urquieta leaves Pasadena after five years of service.
•  Officer Crutchfield leaves Pasadena after four years of service. 
• Officer Younan leaves Pasadena after five years of service. 
• Officer Cogan leaves Pasadena after four years of service. 
• Officer Tulloch leaves Pasadena after three years of service. 

These officers’ collective experience includes years as field training officers, SWAT operators, tactical flight observers on the department helicopter, traffic enforcement officers, use of force instructors, firearms training team members, Street Crime Unit detectives, leaders in DUI arrests, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) award winners, recruitment officers, academy preparation instructors, major crimes division detectives, homeless outreach and psychiatric evaluation (HOPE) officers, and background investigation officers. 

The city of Pasadena has lost officers to the Glendale Police Department (three Officers) Ontario Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department (two Officers), the Torrance Police Department, the Irvine Police Department, the Anaheim Police Department, the Seal Beach Police Department, and the California State University Police Department. The Pasadena Police Officers Association Board and Members sincerely thank you all for your years of service and dedication.  

The Pasadena Police Department’s Recruitment section is doing a stellar job of recruiting replacements for our departing officers, however the experience and time spent in Pasadena takes years to regain. 

A Police Officer Recruit/Trainee will initially spend 6 months in a police academy followed by another 6 to 10 months in field training accompanied by a senior officer before being allowed to patrol as an entry level solo officer. It takes years, even decades to become experts in some of the listed assignments. 

The Pasadena Police Department has lost over 50 lateral officers in the last 10 years. This is not efficient nor sustainable costing millions of dollars to the city replacing what we have already invested training time and dollars for. 

We are not getting a “return on our Investment” with these and future officers. The vast majority of these officers have lateralled to the following agencies: Anaheim, Irvine, Newport Beach, Ontario, Glendale, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica. 

As of the writing of this article, over 50% of Pasadena Police Officers holding the rank of “officer,” meaning they are not a supervisor (corporal, sergeant, or lieutenant) have less than five years of experience. 

With the recent loss of experienced officers, The Police Department is left with 228 sworn personnel with 135 at the officer rank. 

Many of them are still in the academy, training, or probationary stages of their career. The patrol division responsible for answering calls for service citywide is left with approximately 70 officers, seven of which are currently injured and unable to report for duty. 

Many of the seven patrol teams have two-three years of experience, compared to just five years ago when it was 10-15 years. In the mid 2000’s, the Pasadena Police Department was budgeted for over 270 officers with then Chief Melekian’s goal of reaching 300 sworn in a few short years. 

The Pasadena Police Department has defunded sworn positions over the last 15 years, resulting in doing more with less and creating this 10 year trend of officers leaving to other agencies. The Pasadena Police Department has never received a lateral officer from one of these seven police departments.

In 2025, The department is budgeted for 235 officers. Officers working in Pasadena in 2025 are tasked with a significantly higher number of special events requiring officer staffing. Officers are tasked with more administrative responsibilities such as annotating body worn video, completing Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) forms after every detention, as well as an increase in Department of Child & Family Services (DCFS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) reports which often take officers outside of the geographical bounds of Pasadena for extended periods of time. 

Due to limited staffing levels, vacations, and sick calls, there are nights the entirety of our city is patrolled by only 5 officers. Emails asking for officers to work patrol overtime are sent out day and night. Glendale, our neighboring city, similar in size and population, with lower crime rates enacted the Glendale Safe Initiative this year. 

This Budgets an additional 23 sworn officers with the goal of reaching 300 sworn in the immediate future. These significant strides addressed the city’s growth and safety concerns while improving public safety. While many cities, like Glendale, are increasing their police staffing, Pasadena PD remains at 235 officers as the city prepares for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

The Pasadena Police Officers Association wants the public to know that we as a community need to reconsider the way we are staffing police officers. We need to consider why officers are leaving and how we can keep them here.

Kyle Hazen is a board member of the Pasadena Police Officers Association