Few S.D. Police Call City Home : Lifestyles: Nearly two-thirds live outside the city. Why? Because San Diego is too expensive, too congested and has too much crime.

They live in Santee and Solana Beach, Campo and Carlsbad, Encinitas and Escondido.

For more than 1,100 San Diego police officers, the city they patrol is a nice place to work, but they can’t afford to live there.

Nearly two-thirds of the members of the San Diego Police Department do not live in the city limits.

Outside San Diego, where 713 members of the force, or 38% live, the other 68% have made El Cajon their second choice (213 officers), Santee their third preference (160 officers), and Chula Vista their fourth pick (122 officers).

“It’s just more expensive to live in the city,” said Sgt. Fred Hoyle, an assistant to Police Chief Bob Burgreen. “If a young officer lives in Santee, he can afford to buy a home. In the city, he can’t. It’s a matter of economics.”

Burgreen himself doesn’t even live in San Diego. He lives in La Mesa, along with 79 other officers.

Robbery Detective Steve Baker used to live in Mira Mesa. When he bought a home there in 1971, the year before he joined the department, “there were 12,000 people, two 7-Eleven’s and a gas station.”

Now there are more than 100,000 people in the area, and Baker says it has been overrun by traffic and development. Five years ago, Baker headed for Santee, where he still lives.

Although most officers, in interviews, cited economy as the primary reason for not living in San Diego, some privately mentioned concern over rising crime in the city. This year, the city set a new homicide record.

“Why would anyone live in San Diego?” one officer asked. “The quality of life is just so bad.”

Sgt. Joanne Welter and her husband, Lt. John Welter, live in El Cajon so they can keep horses on their 5 acres. They prefer owning a lot of property in the country rather than a little in San Diego.

“A lot of cops tend to want to be away from crowds and large numbers of people after having to deal with people every day,” said Joanne Welter. “I mean, when cops retire, where do they go? Montana. Oregon. Idaho. All those peaceful places.”

Welter said she used to live a “beatnik-type existence” in North Park and enjoyed living near Balboa Park but decided she’d like to be in an area where she could ride her horses.

Hoyle, who lives in San Carlos, jokingly calls those who live in far-flung areas like Alpine (37 officers) and Dulzura (four officers) “country gentlemen” who prefer to be as far from the city as possible.

San Diego police officers are required to live in the county of San Diego, but there is no rule that mandates residency within city limits, nor is anyone in the department pushing for such a requirement.

In fact, the Police Officers Assn., which represents most of the 1,888 San Diego police officers, recently requested an exemption to allow officers to live in Riverside County, where housing is cheaper, said Ron Newman, the association’s vice president.

Some live outside the county even without the exemption. Two live in Temecula and one in Murietta in Riverside County, and one lives in Palmdale in San Bernardino County. One recruit still lists his residence as Seattle, Wash.

The fact that only 38% of San Diego police officers live within the city limits is a shock to some.

“It surprises me,” said Councilman Tom Behr. “It’s an indication that we are so devoid of affordable housing that our police cannot even afford to live here. We are going to have to address the issue in the coming year.”

San Diego police officers start in the academy making $23,856 a year. Once they graduate and are placed on probation, they make a minimum of $28,056 a year. Once they are off probation, they make a minimum of $35,796 a year. The most they can make, before being promoted to sergeant, is $43,272 a year.

Police Residency

Nearly two-thirds of San Diego’s police officers do not live within the city limits. The following figures show where they live, as well as the percentage of the total.

San Diego 713 (38%0 El Cajon 213 (11.3%) Santee 160 (8.5%) Chula Vista 122 (6.5%) Escondido 86 (4.5%) Lakeside 84 (4.6%) La Mesa 80 (4.25%) Ramona 61 (3.24%) Poway 60 (3.19%) Spring Valley 56 (3%) Alpine 37 (2%) Lemon Grove 29 (1.5%) Oceanside 22 (1.17%) Bonita 22 (1.17%) Carlsbad 19 (1%) Jamul 17 (0.9%) National City 14 (0.7%) Vista 13 (0.7%) Imperial Beach 11 (0.6%) San Marcos 10 (0.5%) Coronado 10 (0.5%) Encinitas 10 (0.5%) Campo 5 (0.3%) Cardiff 4 (0.2%) Del Mar 4 (0.2%) Descanso 4 (0.2%) Dulzura 4 (0.2%) Pine Valley 4 (0.2%) Julian 3 (0.16%) Temecula 2 (0.11%) Solana Beach 2 (0.11%) Fallbrook 1 (0.05%) Palmdale 1 (0.05%) Potrero 1 (0.05%) Spring Hill 1 (0.05%) Valley Center 1 (0.05%) Murrieta 1 (0.05%) Seattle 1 (0.05%)* Total: 1,888

* Officer is still a Police Academy recruit and in the process of moving to San Diego County.