WESTMINSTER, Calif.—Westminster has experienced dramatic increases in robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary from January through March compared to last year, according to data from the city’s police department, with low budgets contributing to a police “recruitment war” short-staffing the force.
Additionally, violent crime overall is up 60 percent.
“We do not have the staffing to do that much proactive enforcement on a lot of these [crimes],” Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi told the city council during an April 27 meeting when explaining the reasons behind crime rate increases.
According to Lenyi, the city’s detective unit is hundreds of cases behind on investigating due to short-staffing issues in the police force, making enforcement “very difficult.”
“Officers are [already] working overtime to cover patrol functions ... and they need sleep,” Lenyi said.
Property crime additionally has increased by just over 13 percent, with burglary and larceny, or theft of property belonging to another, showing the most notable growth.
Report data show burglary is up by nearly 20 percent, from 85 incidents in 2021 to 100 this year.
“From what I am hearing you are doing what you can and trying your best to cover [crime increases],” City Councilman Chi Charlie Nguyen told Chief Lenyi when responding to the chief’s statements.
According to Lenyi, most police short-staffing issues are due to a lack of funding available to provide competitive benefits and pay, leading officers to get recruited to other cities.
“In my career, this has been the toughest time with recruitment ... to go get paid more money elsewhere, to do less, would attract a lot of people,” and that there is a “recruitment war” going on between cities for viable candidates, Lenyi said.
The Westminster Police Department could not be reached for comment by press time.
