Joseph Mavin, interim chief of the Kansas City Police Department, said on a recent tour of the station’s 911 call center, which has been waiting for a long time, “people working here work long hours to cover other shifts. I have extra overtime work. “
“But you need someone to answer the phone. You need to send someone. Otherwise, you won’t be able to reach the officers. That’s important.”
According to Mavin, Kansas City Police have reduced about 100 important non-executive positions, including 911 dispatchers, mechanics, and analysts, and reduced more than 200 officers.
“We are thin,” said the interim chief. “But one of the things we can’t get rid of is emergency response.”
Atlanta, Dallas, Portland, Seattle and other cities are addressing the shortage
Police stations are offering bonuses to new officers, and in some cases, trying to fill their ranks by offering officers who are already in employment, education costs, and other incentives.
“I’m looking for 250 officers, and we’re finding them. People are answering the phone,” said Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta. “They want to serve their city.”
Atlanta, like many cities across the country, was worried after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers in 2020. It was captured on a mobile phone video and widely distributed.
Other cities are looking for officers as well. The Dallas Police Department has lost about 550 police officers. In Portland, the department aims to fill the positions of more than 100 executives.
On Monday, Chicago Police Department police officer David Brown called for the city’s “continuous support and prayer” after the police officer’s third suicide last month.
Brown also addressed concerns about the cancellation of departmental holidays during the summer, with the city’s “historically most violent weekends” being anniversaries, Father’s Day, Independence Day, and Worker’s Day weekends. Said it was.
The director said a vacation decision was made for the safety of the police, adding that “when police in the dark alleys are asking for help”, more police are needed on the street. Brown emphasized that personal vacations and vacations are not cancelled.
The Chicago Brothers Police Order (Chicago Lodge # 7) is having problems with a canceled holiday.
Crisis threatens “quality of life in our community”
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, police officers can train on average for eight months before patrol the streets alone. This means that it will take years to fill the jobs that are being recruited in departments across the country.
In addition, low wages and so-called mass layoffs, in which workers voluntarily quit their jobs in unprecedented numbers after a pandemic, have hit police as well as other professions.
Regarding the impact of the crisis on cities, the study said:
Darin Shabaum, Atlanta’s Interim Police Chief, said:
“There will not be enough police officers tomorrow.”
At the Kansas City Regional Police Academy, Southern California police officer Ryan Tillman recently spoke at a presentation on law enforcement recruitment to encourage participants to avoid the tendency to “wait for top people to change culture.” I urged you.
“I want to wait for the police chief to change morale,” Tillman said in a presentation by the law enforcement training group Caliber Press. “We can do that. You can do it. You are a member of the recruiting team … you are the gatekeeper of the department.”
Tillman has launched the Breaking Barriers United program for school districts and endangered youth and team officers to improve police and community relations. At the Kansas City Regional Police Academy, he emphasized the importance of “changing perceptions” when hiring future law enforcement agencies.
“I can legally get out there and make the changes the community wants to see, without anyone having to impress me with what I have to do,” Tillman said in an interview. ..
“The misconception is that I have to do things the way they want me-that’s true in the sense of policy and law-but I go out there and the way I want the police You can be the police. ”
Mayor Quinton Lucas of the city of Kansas said all departments of the government have resolved labor shortages and the city is doing everything it can to ensure public safety.
“Tomorrow will not be perfect,” he said in an interview. “Tomorrow we’ll run out of police. What we can tell people is … (that’s) responding to 911 emergency calls. We prioritize the best ways to help prevent crime. We are working hard. Our city. But above all, we all need to make sure that others know that the police are a good way. “
According to Lucas, the city has communicated its recruitment message to military bases and historically black colleges, stepping up efforts to recruit female officers.
“We are now telling them that they are desperately needed,” Mabin said of hiring officers. “Above all, it’s a call, and if they’re willing to serve, they’re willing to help, and we’ll have a place for them. “
CNN’s Shawn Nottingham and Rebekah Riess contributed to this story.
Source: www.cnn.com
