Background/Discussion
Staffing for the Police Department was increased from 118 to 121 sworn officers pursuant to Resolution Number 22-116 on April 25, 2022. Despite this increase, the Police Department has never reached a full staffing strength of 121.
Since April of 2022, Police Department has routinely been understaffed by approximately 6 to 8 officers. To address these staffing shortages, the Police Department vastly improved its recruitment strategies and worked with the Civil Service Commission to make the processes to certify Police Officer eligibility lists timelier and more efficient.
The aforementioned changes to recruitment strategies and Civil Service processes are anticipated to enable the hiring of enough officers to attain full staffing by the end of 2024. However, the Police Department is facing the impending retirement of a large number of officers. Anticipated retirements are determined by reviewing current seniority lists and identifying officers who have reached the eligible age to collect a pension benefit (i.e., 55) and the number of service years (i.e., 30) to receive the maximum pension benefit. (see Table 1) Reviewing the number of actual retirements and separations illustrates that more people actually retire than anticipated because some individuals choose to leave once they are eligible to collect, but fall short of 30 years of service or they separate prior to collecting a pension (e.g., disability, resignations, etc.). (see Table 2)
Unfortunately, retirements and separations do not align with the timing of new Police Officer hiring and training thereby preventing the Police Department from ever maintaining a full staffing strength when achieved. Permitting the Police Department to have flexibility to temporarily exceed its staffing strength will support public safety, contribute to reductions in overtime, increase officer wellness, and enable the Police Department to achieve and maintain a full staffing strength of 121 officers.
It is critical for the Police Department to have the ability to temporarily exceed staffing strength in the Police Department by no more than 4 officers whenever within a period of 12 months the Police Department will expect to lose a significant number of officers to retirement or separation. This ability to temporarily exceed staffing would commence immediately upon execution of this resolution.