By: OC Supervisor Todd Spitzer
Due to a massive surge in applications for permits to carry a concealed weapon (CCW), Supervisor Todd Spitzer last week proposed adding additional human resources for the Sheriff’s Department to rapidly clear the emerging backlog of CCW applications. This week, the Board of Supervisors approved hiring up to 15 working retirees for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to avert a backlog of CCW applications.
“If a person meets all the legal requirements to get a CCW, their application should not be delayed simply because of inadequate staffing,” Supervisor Spitzer said. “By using working retirees, we minimize the expense to taxpayers, as the retirees are already trained to do this work and are not eligible for any benefits.”
CCW applications surged after the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on February 14 in Peruta v. County of San Diego that personal self-defense constitutes adequate grounds to obtain a CCW. In Orange County, there were approximately 500 CCW applications in all of 2013. There were 1,000 applications in just the first seventeen days after the Peruta ruling was handed down.
The Sheriff’s Department is currently $3.5 million under budget, so the cost of the additional temporary working retirees will be spent from the existing Sheriff’s Department budget.
I called for my interview with the OC Sheriffs Department and received an appointment date of August 4, 2015…..
I called two weeks after you and got a date of January 2017!!!!