1
General Discussion / Tried to bring these fruits from Japan home but customs said "prohibited"
« on: Today at 02:18:41 PM »
...so will have to settle in juice form:
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2
General Discussion / Re: Good move on RED state Texas' part IMO
« on: Today at 02:16:23 PM »
Took this photo the other day:
3
General Discussion / No more tape, laser is the way to go when you're up high
« on: Today at 02:14:43 PM »
...because tape measurer tends to flail due to gravity...
Red light on the T of "TRD":
And on my wife's Nissan right above "SL Plus":
Red light on the T of "TRD":
And on my wife's Nissan right above "SL Plus":
4
General Discussion / Will Minnesota be Trump country?
« on: Today at 01:52:50 PM »
At a private donor retreat, Trump team says Minnesota and Virginia are in play
Top Trump campaign officials delivered a closed-door presentation to donors at a Republican National Committee retreat on Saturday.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Top officials for former President Donald Trump’s campaign believe they can flip Democratic strongholds Minnesota and Virginia into his column in November, they told donors behind closed doors at a Republican National Committee retreat Saturday.
Brandishing internal surveys, pollster Tony Fabrizio and senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita delivered a set of presentations that focused on finances, messaging and the political map, according to two people who were present at the Four Seasons resort here. Fabrizio’s numbers, posted on a slide shared with NBC News, showed Trump ahead of President Joe Biden by small margins in the key swing states from 2020 — including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia.
The Trump camp’s discussion of expanding the electoral map deeper into the Democratic territory of Minnesota and Virginia comes as Biden’s re-election team says it is eyeing North Carolina — which Republicans have won in three consecutive presidential races — and Florida, where the GOP has prevailed in the last two presidential elections. Biden took the 2020 contest by a margin of 74 electoral votes, with victories in the pivotal states of Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia coming from a cumulative advantage of about 44,000 votes.
“I think that the Biden campaign is deliberately playing a faux game by talking about [how] they’re going to expand the map in Florida and North Carolina,” LaCivita said in a telephone interview with NBC News. “But we have a real, real opportunity in expanding the map in Virginia and Minnesota.”
The top lines of the internal polling shared with donors are relatively consistent with sparse public surveys that show Biden with a small edge in Virginia, while Trump’s advantage in his own polling in Minnesota is at odds with the few public surveys in that state. But all of the public polls in Minnesota and Virginia — and the trials run by Trump’s campaign — fall within their margins of error, suggesting tight races in both states.
Trump’s team tested head-to-head, four-way and six-way races in each state, according to LaCivita. In the six-way trial in Minnesota, which includes four independent candidates, Trump and Biden were tied at 40% apiece, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9%, he said. When the field was narrowed to four candidates, Trump led Biden 46% to 41%. In a head-to-head matchup, Trump led Biden 49% to 46%.
Biden won Minnesota by about 7 percentage points in 2020, and the state has not favored a Republican nominee for president since Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.
In Virginia, Trump’s internal survey showed Biden leading Trump 40% to 37% in a six-way test that included Kennedy at 8%. Biden led Trump 48% to 44% in a head-to-head matchup. And, in a four-way race, Biden had a 42%-to-41% advantage over Trump.
Trump aides declined to make the full surveys, including their methodology, available to NBC News. Campaigns often use the promise of playing offense on new turf as an incentive for donors to give money to support those efforts.
"Trump’s team has so little campaign or infrastructure to speak of they’re resorting to leaking memos that say ‘the polls we paid for show us winning, don’t ask us to show you the whole poll though.’ Sure, guys," Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said.
"While we have 150 offices open with hundreds of staff across the key battlegrounds, the RNC is closing offices and hemorrhaging money on legal fees," she added. "Joe Biden has hit every battleground at least once, while Trump’s in the courtroom or on the golf course. We’ll see how that translates in November.” "
Top Trump campaign officials delivered a closed-door presentation to donors at a Republican National Committee retreat on Saturday.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Top officials for former President Donald Trump’s campaign believe they can flip Democratic strongholds Minnesota and Virginia into his column in November, they told donors behind closed doors at a Republican National Committee retreat Saturday.
Brandishing internal surveys, pollster Tony Fabrizio and senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita delivered a set of presentations that focused on finances, messaging and the political map, according to two people who were present at the Four Seasons resort here. Fabrizio’s numbers, posted on a slide shared with NBC News, showed Trump ahead of President Joe Biden by small margins in the key swing states from 2020 — including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia.
The Trump camp’s discussion of expanding the electoral map deeper into the Democratic territory of Minnesota and Virginia comes as Biden’s re-election team says it is eyeing North Carolina — which Republicans have won in three consecutive presidential races — and Florida, where the GOP has prevailed in the last two presidential elections. Biden took the 2020 contest by a margin of 74 electoral votes, with victories in the pivotal states of Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia coming from a cumulative advantage of about 44,000 votes.
“I think that the Biden campaign is deliberately playing a faux game by talking about [how] they’re going to expand the map in Florida and North Carolina,” LaCivita said in a telephone interview with NBC News. “But we have a real, real opportunity in expanding the map in Virginia and Minnesota.”
The top lines of the internal polling shared with donors are relatively consistent with sparse public surveys that show Biden with a small edge in Virginia, while Trump’s advantage in his own polling in Minnesota is at odds with the few public surveys in that state. But all of the public polls in Minnesota and Virginia — and the trials run by Trump’s campaign — fall within their margins of error, suggesting tight races in both states.
Trump’s team tested head-to-head, four-way and six-way races in each state, according to LaCivita. In the six-way trial in Minnesota, which includes four independent candidates, Trump and Biden were tied at 40% apiece, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9%, he said. When the field was narrowed to four candidates, Trump led Biden 46% to 41%. In a head-to-head matchup, Trump led Biden 49% to 46%.
Biden won Minnesota by about 7 percentage points in 2020, and the state has not favored a Republican nominee for president since Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.
In Virginia, Trump’s internal survey showed Biden leading Trump 40% to 37% in a six-way test that included Kennedy at 8%. Biden led Trump 48% to 44% in a head-to-head matchup. And, in a four-way race, Biden had a 42%-to-41% advantage over Trump.
Trump aides declined to make the full surveys, including their methodology, available to NBC News. Campaigns often use the promise of playing offense on new turf as an incentive for donors to give money to support those efforts.
"Trump’s team has so little campaign or infrastructure to speak of they’re resorting to leaking memos that say ‘the polls we paid for show us winning, don’t ask us to show you the whole poll though.’ Sure, guys," Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said.
"While we have 150 offices open with hundreds of staff across the key battlegrounds, the RNC is closing offices and hemorrhaging money on legal fees," she added. "Joe Biden has hit every battleground at least once, while Trump’s in the courtroom or on the golf course. We’ll see how that translates in November.” "
5
General Discussion / Asian doctor's wife is very forgiving? I mean he did try to kill her near SF
« on: Today at 01:38:21 AM »
Wife of doctor who 'drove car off cliff' with family inside begs for attempted murder charges to be dropped
The wife of a California doctor accused of deliberately driving a car off a cliff with his family inside has begged prosecutors to drop the charges against him, according to US media reports.
Dharmesh Patel, 42, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.
His wife Neha and their son and daughter, aged four and seven at the time, were in the car.
Patel, a radiologist, was driving his white 2021 Tesla Model Y along the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco, when it plunged several hundred feet off the cliff at Devil's Slide.
All four survived the crash in what one official called an "absolute miracle".
Patel's wife, who suffered serious injuries, spoke for the first time in court since the incident on 2 January last year.
She told the proceedings on Thursday in Redwood City, California, her husband should be released from jail and sent home under a mental health diversion programme, according to The Mercury News.
Mrs Patel blamed her husband's actions that day on "a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding and control" and said "things will be different" if he is allowed to return home to their family, the California-based paper reported.
"We need him in our life," she reportedly said, giving evidence to the courtroom via a video call.
"We're not a family without him."
She spoke at length about the impact of her husband's absence on their children, saying she has often found her daughter crying at night, the newspaper reported.
Her son has asked why it's "taking so long" for his father to return home, she said, adding the boy was "heartbroken".
Noting that Friday is the couple's 16th wedding anniversary, she described her husband as a "kind and altruistic" man, who "has been my best friend for more than 25 years".
"Seeing my kids in emotional pain is one of the hardest things I've had to endure," she said.
Read more from Sky News:
Woman wins $1m lottery jackpot twice in 10 weeks
Boat captain jailed over fire that killed 34 people
The court previously reportedly heard Patel suffered from a major depressive disorder - and a psychotic episode on the day of the crash.
Mark Patterson, a psychologist who gave evidence for the defence, told the court that in the days before the incident Patel grew increasingly delusional and believed his children were at risk of being kidnapped and molested.
His mental state has been a key issue in the case, with his wife reportedly initially telling rescuers her husband was "depressed" and "he purposefully drove off" the cliff.
The trial continues.
The wife of a California doctor accused of deliberately driving a car off a cliff with his family inside has begged prosecutors to drop the charges against him, according to US media reports.
Dharmesh Patel, 42, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.
His wife Neha and their son and daughter, aged four and seven at the time, were in the car.
Patel, a radiologist, was driving his white 2021 Tesla Model Y along the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco, when it plunged several hundred feet off the cliff at Devil's Slide.
All four survived the crash in what one official called an "absolute miracle".
Patel's wife, who suffered serious injuries, spoke for the first time in court since the incident on 2 January last year.
She told the proceedings on Thursday in Redwood City, California, her husband should be released from jail and sent home under a mental health diversion programme, according to The Mercury News.
Mrs Patel blamed her husband's actions that day on "a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding and control" and said "things will be different" if he is allowed to return home to their family, the California-based paper reported.
"We need him in our life," she reportedly said, giving evidence to the courtroom via a video call.
"We're not a family without him."
She spoke at length about the impact of her husband's absence on their children, saying she has often found her daughter crying at night, the newspaper reported.
Her son has asked why it's "taking so long" for his father to return home, she said, adding the boy was "heartbroken".
Noting that Friday is the couple's 16th wedding anniversary, she described her husband as a "kind and altruistic" man, who "has been my best friend for more than 25 years".
"Seeing my kids in emotional pain is one of the hardest things I've had to endure," she said.
Read more from Sky News:
Woman wins $1m lottery jackpot twice in 10 weeks
Boat captain jailed over fire that killed 34 people
The court previously reportedly heard Patel suffered from a major depressive disorder - and a psychotic episode on the day of the crash.
Mark Patterson, a psychologist who gave evidence for the defence, told the court that in the days before the incident Patel grew increasingly delusional and believed his children were at risk of being kidnapped and molested.
His mental state has been a key issue in the case, with his wife reportedly initially telling rescuers her husband was "depressed" and "he purposefully drove off" the cliff.
The trial continues.
6
Marriage & Family Life / Trying to find a dream husband but "looking for love in all the wrong places"?
« on: Today at 01:34:57 AM »
I still haven’t found my dream husband — is it too late to try dating apps?
I am sad that I haven’t found a long-lasting husband. I’m divorced, and my previous relationships and marriage look like intentional hits. I’m not sure what brought this on. I’m in my 40s and I still would like a man in my life. The men I’ve met all seem to enjoy having their homes to themselves. It’s kind of frightening.
Some female friends have told me that the good ones are already taken, so I’m waiting for a divorce to happen. Should I try online dating? Do you think I should reach out to another state for someone?
Here's Lee's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuryZ8JUJM
I am sad that I haven’t found a long-lasting husband. I’m divorced, and my previous relationships and marriage look like intentional hits. I’m not sure what brought this on. I’m in my 40s and I still would like a man in my life. The men I’ve met all seem to enjoy having their homes to themselves. It’s kind of frightening.
Some female friends have told me that the good ones are already taken, so I’m waiting for a divorce to happen. Should I try online dating? Do you think I should reach out to another state for someone?
Here's Lee's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuryZ8JUJM
7
Marriage & Family Life / Well that can't be good, $50k gone, supporting habit??
« on: Today at 01:25:16 AM »
My cheating wife stole $50K from me and attacked me when I tried to leave her
As far as I’m concerned, my marriage is over. For the past 10 years or more, my wife has recklessly spent our joint savings and my pension savings, taken out credit cards in my name without my knowledge and put us through bankruptcy. We now have over $50K in debt with nothing left. She has also been having affairs on the side.
I can’t trust a word she says or continue to live like this. Each time, she has begged for forgiveness and promised not to do it anymore — until she does it a week later. We agreed to separate a month ago, but now she realizes there’s not going to be any regular income from me and wants to stay married. When I told her no, she attacked me physically.
I don’t want the police involved. I have a daughter on the spectrum. Although she’s a young adult, she will blame me, and what relationship I have with her will be destroyed. I have been advised to not move out, as that can be seen by the courts as abandoning my property to her.
As far as I’m concerned, my marriage is over. For the past 10 years or more, my wife has recklessly spent our joint savings and my pension savings, taken out credit cards in my name without my knowledge and put us through bankruptcy. We now have over $50K in debt with nothing left. She has also been having affairs on the side.
I can’t trust a word she says or continue to live like this. Each time, she has begged for forgiveness and promised not to do it anymore — until she does it a week later. We agreed to separate a month ago, but now she realizes there’s not going to be any regular income from me and wants to stay married. When I told her no, she attacked me physically.
I don’t want the police involved. I have a daughter on the spectrum. Although she’s a young adult, she will blame me, and what relationship I have with her will be destroyed. I have been advised to not move out, as that can be seen by the courts as abandoning my property to her.
8
General Discussion / Do you believe these Democrats? I don't because I think they are enjoying their
« on: Today at 01:18:25 AM »
...counterpart across the isle's " GOP Dysfunction"... 
Quote
House Democrats Swear They Are Not Enjoying GOP's Dysfunction — Honest!
Democratic staffers on Capitol Hill were recently discussing the state of the House in a group chat when one posted a meme from “The Simpsons” to illustrate the point.
The choice? Two knife-wielding monkeys fighting as onlookers surround them in a circle and cheer them on. The implication was the monkeys were the House Republicans and the bystanders were the Democrats.
While Republicans retain the House majority, the extent of infighting has become glaringly apparent in recent weeks, most notably with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatening to call for a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Publicly, Democrats are avoiding giving Republicans what coaches would call “bulletin board material,” a slight or insult around which the GOP could rally, but they also want to project an air of seriousness as an implicit contrast to Republicans’ ineptitude.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) smiled for just a second when asked Wednesday if Democrats are enjoying Republicans’ misfortune. Then he launched into a very measured and dull answer.
“We’re going to continue to keep the focus on getting results for the American people and delivering real results on their behalf,” Jeffries said.
Aside from the ongoing will-she-or-won’t-she ouster saga with Greene, Republican disunity has shown up in many other ways, such as Johnson allowing Democrats to carry all or much of the responsibility for passing things, including an annual spending deal, renewal of a controversial spying law and the $61 billion Ukraine aid deal.
9
General Discussion / Congrats to Asian girl for getting in because it's a White male dominated area
« on: Today at 01:14:36 AM »
Meet The Smashing Pumpkins new guitarist, Kiki Wong
Wong, who is of Korean and Chinese heritage, joins The Smashing Pumpkins at the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. “Being in the rock and roll/heavy metal industry as an Asian American female isn't easy especially as a guitarist,” she said in a 2021 interview with Asian American Pacific Islander Musicians.
Wong, who is of Korean and Chinese heritage, joins The Smashing Pumpkins at the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. “Being in the rock and roll/heavy metal industry as an Asian American female isn't easy especially as a guitarist,” she said in a 2021 interview with Asian American Pacific Islander Musicians.
10
General Discussion / Flirt?
« on: Today at 01:09:49 AM »
2 new COVID variants called 'FLiRT' are spreading in the U.S. What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of the FLiRT variants are similar to those caused by JN.1, which include:
Sore throat.
Cough.
Fatigue.
Congestion.
Runny nose.
Headache.
Muscle aches.
Fever or chills.
The symptoms of the FLiRT variants are similar to those caused by JN.1, which include:
Sore throat.
Cough.
Fatigue.
Congestion.
Runny nose.
Headache.
Muscle aches.
Fever or chills.
11
General Discussion / I put these idiots w/ the "it's no big deal" to steal, commit insurance fraud
« on: May 03, 2024, 11:49:23 PM »
...etc., idiots because society as a whole is paying for their "negative" behaviors 
:
:Quote
The incident occurred Sunday in the Boca Inlet, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Two boaters seen on a viral video dumping trash into the ocean off Florida are minors, and charges against them are imminent, a state official said Thursday.
12
Marriage & Family Life / A decade is a good chunk of time just to get stabbed on the back
« on: May 03, 2024, 11:44:37 PM »
I spent a decade faithful to my wife just to find she has affairs
After 10 years of being with my wife, including eight years of marriage, I accidentally discovered she was having affairs online. She put me through weeks of lies, denial, minimizing and obfuscating before finally giving me full disclosure. At this point, I’ll never know if I can believe her after her seven years of off-and-on cheating with one main partner and two others. Even if I were to believe she’s remorseful and has changed, it’s hard to live with what’s already happened.
It’s been 15 months. I can’t get past the pain of the betrayal and the feeling that she didn’t love or respect me for most of our relationship. In addition, there are images I can’t get out of my head. I want to leave, but finances and young children make it complicated. Also, my wife will cry, get dramatic and make me feel bad, telling me she will just go to a homeless shelter. I don’t know if she’s purposely trying to make me feel guilty or what. Please help
After 10 years of being with my wife, including eight years of marriage, I accidentally discovered she was having affairs online. She put me through weeks of lies, denial, minimizing and obfuscating before finally giving me full disclosure. At this point, I’ll never know if I can believe her after her seven years of off-and-on cheating with one main partner and two others. Even if I were to believe she’s remorseful and has changed, it’s hard to live with what’s already happened.
It’s been 15 months. I can’t get past the pain of the betrayal and the feeling that she didn’t love or respect me for most of our relationship. In addition, there are images I can’t get out of my head. I want to leave, but finances and young children make it complicated. Also, my wife will cry, get dramatic and make me feel bad, telling me she will just go to a homeless shelter. I don’t know if she’s purposely trying to make me feel guilty or what. Please help
13
Marriage & Family Life / Re: What should you do if you're the married friend?
« on: May 03, 2024, 11:44:27 PM »
LOVE IT! when the clique members continue to do the opposite of what they say because it's just proves me right and YES, it's nice to RIGHT! 
14
Pro Sports Discussion / Re: Official Silver & Black Thread
« on: May 03, 2024, 01:27:07 PM »
Still not as "baddddddd" as the idiot that cried "ain't got time for football, not watching it anymore" but continues to do the opposite like the LYING HYPOCRITE that he is...
"and i stand 10000% behind my words"
"JUST SOMETHING ABOUT" HIS "negative" (per the neutral PH members) behaviors (LYING AND HYPOCRISIS) just make him "SUCKY".
"SEEING IS TRULY BELIEVING YO"
"and i stand 10000% behind my words"
"JUST SOMETHING ABOUT" HIS "negative" (per the neutral PH members) behaviors (LYING AND HYPOCRISIS) just make him "SUCKY".
"SEEING IS TRULY BELIEVING YO"
15
General Discussion / One of the highest Hmong population density per capita so yeah, it's bad?
« on: May 03, 2024, 01:22:03 PM »
'Folks, it's bad': Merced sheriff warns of public safety crisis as deputy vacancies mount
In Merced County, which stretches from the Sierra Nevada foothills west across vast acres of orchards and farmland, Sheriff Vern Warnke increasingly finds himself the only law enforcement officer available to answer a call for help.
Most recently, the department received a call from a woman regarding a domestic dispute, saying her husband had a gun. With no deputies in close range, Warnke reported to the scene, wearing his signature cowboy hat and his badge hung around his neck. He found a man pacing with a loaded gun tucked into his waistband and managed to deescalate the situation.
“We had nobody to send, and I, as the sheriff, I'm still a cop, I still love what I do,” said Warnke. “But we're at that point when the sheriff and administration are having to take calls.”
Warnke has worked for the Merced sheriff's office for 45 years and has been sheriff for the last decade. So it's with heavy heart, he said, that he's watched deputy vacancies climb to the point where he believes residents are at risk. In February, Warnke posted a video that amounted to a plea for help, warning residents that the staffing shortage was now so severe calls for service could go unheeded.
“I'm fighting for the sheriff's office’s life right now,” Warnke says in the video. “That means I'm fighting for your public safety. So folks, it's bad."
The office typically has 100 deputies who handle patrol duties, but 20 of those spots are vacant. Of the 108 spots designated for custodial deputies, who work at correctional facilities, 23 are vacant. The investigative unit, budgeted as an 18-person team, is down to eight. And dispatch has four vacancies in a staff of 13.
Warnke said the vacancies have mounted in recent months and his pleas to the county Board of Supervisors to increase his budget and give him control over how funds are allocated have gone unheeded.
At this point, just four deputies patrol the county’s nearly 2,000 square miles during daytime shifts. A lieutenant and two sergeants are covering dispatch shifts. If someone calls in sick, colleagues are asked to work beyond their 12-hour shifts. One dispatcher clocked more than 700 hours of overtime over the course of a year.
“Our correctional bureaus are understaffed and overworked. Our patrol deputies are understaffed and overworked. Our communication center with the dispatchers — it could be to the point when you dial 911, we have nobody who can answer it,” Warnke said in the video. “And that's not a joke. It's not a threat. It's a fact.”
The struggle to fill law enforcement ranks is a challenge in many California communities, urban and rural. The number of patrol officers per 100,000 residents is at its lowest point since at least 1991, according to a January report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The steepest declines occurred during the 2007–09 Great Recession, the PPIC researchers found, and levels have not recovered.
Last year, with about one-third of its 88 sworn officer positions vacant, the city of Alameda started offering police recruits a $75,000 enlistment bonus on top of regular pay that starts at $110,000 a year. San Francisco and some East Bay cities followed suit, raising officer pay and implementing signing and retention bonuses.
The Los Angeles City Council in August approved a four-year package of raises for officers that boosted starting pay to $86,000, and offered bigger retention bonuses. But city officials said in April they are still struggling to keep up with vacancies, and would need to hire about 60 new officers a month to overcome the attrition rate.
Smaller municipalities that can’t compete with such extravagant offers have tried other methods of retention, including free gym memberships and dry-cleaning services. But rural counties, with smaller budgets to work with, are often at the losing end of the recruitment battle. In 2022, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office suspended daytime patrol amid a staffing shortage.
Merced County, known as the gateway to Yosemite, has a larger budget than many rural counties because it encompasses both farmland and cities such as Merced, population 90,000. The county's annual budget for public safety has grown in recent years and makes about $93.4 million available for the sheriff's office, according to county officials.
But Warnke said it hasn’t been enough to retain deputies, who are leaving for other counties despite Merced's $10,000 signing bonuses. Top deputies in some neighboring counties make at least $102,000, while Merced pays its top deputies $90,000.
The sheriff acknowledged that the competition for salaries and bonuses creates a “vicious cycle." The department went through similar shortages during his first term, and deputies received a 20% raise in 2017. But here he is facing the same problem.
“The issue is that the county doesn’t seem to want to put any planning into the future. They’ll put a Band-Aid on something and think it’s gonna hold for a long time. And it doesn’t,” Warnke said.
County spokesman Mike North said the county offered the Merced County Deputy Sheriff's Assn. an 8% raise, which the union declined. If a raise is eventually approved, North said, funding would come from cutting into other agencies.
“We are aiming to close the compensation gap between the sheriff’s office and others in the Central Valley, and our staff has already returned to the bargaining table with the remaining public safety labor groups," he said in a statement.
Warnke’s video and the concerns he has expressed at public hearings have prompted outcry from residents, who are worried about safety. In 2022, Merced County had the highest reported homicide rate among counties in the state with more than 100,000 residents,according to the California Department of Justice.
In March, the sheriff's office launched an online reporting system to take in nonviolent crime reports, saying it simply did not have enough deputies to respond to calls. Custody order violations, vehicle thefts and vandalism are among the crimes that can be reported online. Violent crimes can still be reported by phone. Other law enforcement agencies have also turned to online systems to free up resources.
Merced County residents Becky and Jason Tucker say they can feel the shortage.
The couple filed a report with the sheriff's office last summer alleging that a man had committed forgery and damaged property on their farm. They said they were told the office had just one investigator who handled agriculture-related crimes. That investigator, said Becky Tucker, was needed for homicide investigations, leaving their case open for months as the suspect roamed free. He was ultimately arrested for alleged crimes in Kern County, where he is awaiting a court appearance.
“We are concerned that if something happens on our property, we will not have access to a deputy as far as response time," she said.
The couple have since spent $6,000 on a security system.
North said 74 cents of every general fund dollar in Merced County goes toward public safety and that the board, given various regulatory requirements, has discretion over only about 11% of the $1.16 billion budget. He said the county’s goal is to “maintain a sustainable budget that doesn’t result in massive layoffs should we encounter an economic recession.”
And the sheriff's office is not the only county department managing high vacancy rates. Marta Echevarria, a family services representative in the human services agency, said her department has 40 vacancies and the workers who remain are doing 12-hour shifts. In December, she went before county supervisors to voice her fears of becoming homeless because the costs of both her rent and health insurance were skyrocketing.
“I hear [the sheriff] and it makes me so sad,” she said, “but at the same time it makes me so angry, because I’m thinking, 'What about the rest of us?'”
Read more:LAPD’s recruiting woes laid bare: Only 30 officers per class, analysis shows
A report issued last year by the Bureau of Justice said that for a variety of reasons — including a tightening labor market and heightened national tensions over the role of policing — law enforcement agencies across the country face an historic crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified candidates.
Rather than get caught up in a competition for wages and bonuses — a competition rural counties won't win — the report recommends offering incentives that appeal to a growing hunger among younger workers for a better work-life balance. The suggestions include more paid time off, increased family leave, flexible schedules and tuition reimbursements .
Warnke acknowledged that other counties, such as Fresno, offer take-home cars for deputies, while Madera offers lifetime medical benefits to those who stay more than five years and retire with the agency.
“These are some things that our county needs to grab a hold of,” he said. “They can't do it for the entire county, but they can sure do it for the sheriff's office, the critical agency within the county.”
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In Merced County, which stretches from the Sierra Nevada foothills west across vast acres of orchards and farmland, Sheriff Vern Warnke increasingly finds himself the only law enforcement officer available to answer a call for help.
Most recently, the department received a call from a woman regarding a domestic dispute, saying her husband had a gun. With no deputies in close range, Warnke reported to the scene, wearing his signature cowboy hat and his badge hung around his neck. He found a man pacing with a loaded gun tucked into his waistband and managed to deescalate the situation.
“We had nobody to send, and I, as the sheriff, I'm still a cop, I still love what I do,” said Warnke. “But we're at that point when the sheriff and administration are having to take calls.”
Warnke has worked for the Merced sheriff's office for 45 years and has been sheriff for the last decade. So it's with heavy heart, he said, that he's watched deputy vacancies climb to the point where he believes residents are at risk. In February, Warnke posted a video that amounted to a plea for help, warning residents that the staffing shortage was now so severe calls for service could go unheeded.
“I'm fighting for the sheriff's office’s life right now,” Warnke says in the video. “That means I'm fighting for your public safety. So folks, it's bad."
The office typically has 100 deputies who handle patrol duties, but 20 of those spots are vacant. Of the 108 spots designated for custodial deputies, who work at correctional facilities, 23 are vacant. The investigative unit, budgeted as an 18-person team, is down to eight. And dispatch has four vacancies in a staff of 13.
Warnke said the vacancies have mounted in recent months and his pleas to the county Board of Supervisors to increase his budget and give him control over how funds are allocated have gone unheeded.
At this point, just four deputies patrol the county’s nearly 2,000 square miles during daytime shifts. A lieutenant and two sergeants are covering dispatch shifts. If someone calls in sick, colleagues are asked to work beyond their 12-hour shifts. One dispatcher clocked more than 700 hours of overtime over the course of a year.
“Our correctional bureaus are understaffed and overworked. Our patrol deputies are understaffed and overworked. Our communication center with the dispatchers — it could be to the point when you dial 911, we have nobody who can answer it,” Warnke said in the video. “And that's not a joke. It's not a threat. It's a fact.”
The struggle to fill law enforcement ranks is a challenge in many California communities, urban and rural. The number of patrol officers per 100,000 residents is at its lowest point since at least 1991, according to a January report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The steepest declines occurred during the 2007–09 Great Recession, the PPIC researchers found, and levels have not recovered.
Last year, with about one-third of its 88 sworn officer positions vacant, the city of Alameda started offering police recruits a $75,000 enlistment bonus on top of regular pay that starts at $110,000 a year. San Francisco and some East Bay cities followed suit, raising officer pay and implementing signing and retention bonuses.
The Los Angeles City Council in August approved a four-year package of raises for officers that boosted starting pay to $86,000, and offered bigger retention bonuses. But city officials said in April they are still struggling to keep up with vacancies, and would need to hire about 60 new officers a month to overcome the attrition rate.
Smaller municipalities that can’t compete with such extravagant offers have tried other methods of retention, including free gym memberships and dry-cleaning services. But rural counties, with smaller budgets to work with, are often at the losing end of the recruitment battle. In 2022, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office suspended daytime patrol amid a staffing shortage.
Merced County, known as the gateway to Yosemite, has a larger budget than many rural counties because it encompasses both farmland and cities such as Merced, population 90,000. The county's annual budget for public safety has grown in recent years and makes about $93.4 million available for the sheriff's office, according to county officials.
But Warnke said it hasn’t been enough to retain deputies, who are leaving for other counties despite Merced's $10,000 signing bonuses. Top deputies in some neighboring counties make at least $102,000, while Merced pays its top deputies $90,000.
The sheriff acknowledged that the competition for salaries and bonuses creates a “vicious cycle." The department went through similar shortages during his first term, and deputies received a 20% raise in 2017. But here he is facing the same problem.
“The issue is that the county doesn’t seem to want to put any planning into the future. They’ll put a Band-Aid on something and think it’s gonna hold for a long time. And it doesn’t,” Warnke said.
County spokesman Mike North said the county offered the Merced County Deputy Sheriff's Assn. an 8% raise, which the union declined. If a raise is eventually approved, North said, funding would come from cutting into other agencies.
“We are aiming to close the compensation gap between the sheriff’s office and others in the Central Valley, and our staff has already returned to the bargaining table with the remaining public safety labor groups," he said in a statement.
Warnke’s video and the concerns he has expressed at public hearings have prompted outcry from residents, who are worried about safety. In 2022, Merced County had the highest reported homicide rate among counties in the state with more than 100,000 residents,according to the California Department of Justice.
In March, the sheriff's office launched an online reporting system to take in nonviolent crime reports, saying it simply did not have enough deputies to respond to calls. Custody order violations, vehicle thefts and vandalism are among the crimes that can be reported online. Violent crimes can still be reported by phone. Other law enforcement agencies have also turned to online systems to free up resources.
Merced County residents Becky and Jason Tucker say they can feel the shortage.
The couple filed a report with the sheriff's office last summer alleging that a man had committed forgery and damaged property on their farm. They said they were told the office had just one investigator who handled agriculture-related crimes. That investigator, said Becky Tucker, was needed for homicide investigations, leaving their case open for months as the suspect roamed free. He was ultimately arrested for alleged crimes in Kern County, where he is awaiting a court appearance.
“We are concerned that if something happens on our property, we will not have access to a deputy as far as response time," she said.
The couple have since spent $6,000 on a security system.
North said 74 cents of every general fund dollar in Merced County goes toward public safety and that the board, given various regulatory requirements, has discretion over only about 11% of the $1.16 billion budget. He said the county’s goal is to “maintain a sustainable budget that doesn’t result in massive layoffs should we encounter an economic recession.”
And the sheriff's office is not the only county department managing high vacancy rates. Marta Echevarria, a family services representative in the human services agency, said her department has 40 vacancies and the workers who remain are doing 12-hour shifts. In December, she went before county supervisors to voice her fears of becoming homeless because the costs of both her rent and health insurance were skyrocketing.
“I hear [the sheriff] and it makes me so sad,” she said, “but at the same time it makes me so angry, because I’m thinking, 'What about the rest of us?'”
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A report issued last year by the Bureau of Justice said that for a variety of reasons — including a tightening labor market and heightened national tensions over the role of policing — law enforcement agencies across the country face an historic crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified candidates.
Rather than get caught up in a competition for wages and bonuses — a competition rural counties won't win — the report recommends offering incentives that appeal to a growing hunger among younger workers for a better work-life balance. The suggestions include more paid time off, increased family leave, flexible schedules and tuition reimbursements .
Warnke acknowledged that other counties, such as Fresno, offer take-home cars for deputies, while Madera offers lifetime medical benefits to those who stay more than five years and retire with the agency.
“These are some things that our county needs to grab a hold of,” he said. “They can't do it for the entire county, but they can sure do it for the sheriff's office, the critical agency within the county.”
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