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Sources within the San Jose Police Department have confirmed that sworn staff is leaving their ranks faster than the department can replace them.

As it stands, between two and four officers are leaving each month, they said, and the number of recruits that are graduating from academy classes is less than what they'd hoped for.

It's estimated that the number of sworn staff could fall below 990 by July of next year, which would mark the first time this number has fallen below 1,000 since the Regan administration.

Unless things change, that number could drop below 950 by July 2017.

Retention is a really big challenge, according to a spokesperson, who points out that up to 100 officers have resigned or retired each year since 2011.  The second hurdle relates to the candidate pool; interested parties simply aren't as qualified as they were in the past.

Although the city had set aside about $10 million to help boost staffing levels, for now, most of that is being re-purposed to cover overtime costs and making sure that 911 response times are being maintained.   Things have become so stretched that the San Jose PD paid out almost $25 million in overtime last fiscal year.

The police officers union has suggested that if the city is open to reforming the current disability and pension packages, this could help with retention rates and may help boost recruiting efforts.

Read the full story here: San Jose: Report says SJPD ranks could fall to 1985 levels with current trends