TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Rachel Johnson, Police Chief
Lisa Jenkins, Human Resources Director
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Police Department Staffing Levels and Authorization for the Over-Hiring of Five Additional Police Officers (Police Chief Johnson and Human Resources Director Jenkins).
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
Line
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the over-hiring of up to five additional sworn Police Officers.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The cost of over-hiring employees will be offset by salary savings in the current fiscal year. Should the Council desire to permanently increase staffing levels, the associated fiscal implications will be included in a future budget update along with a corresponding appropriation.
BACKGROUND:
Historically, the Police Department has maintained the authorization to over-hire by two Police Officer positions with the ability to return to Council for authorization for additional over-hires. Currently, sworn* staffing within the Police Department is as follows:
|
Position |
Full-Time Employees |
|
|
|
Police Chief |
1.0 |
|
Police Captain |
2.0 |
|
Police Lieutenant |
5.0 |
|
Police Sergeant |
11.0 |
|
Police Officer |
46.0 |
|
Total |
65.0 |
*Sworn police employees include those who are trained in law enforcement and have the authority to engage in law enforcement activities, including arrest power, and are authorized to carry a firearm and badge.
The City hires both Lateral/Academy Graduate as well as Trainee candidates to become Police Officers. Lateral candidates are currently working as Police Officers in other organizations and academy graduate candidates have attended a police academy but do not yet have the required agency experience. Finally, trainee candidates are entry-level employees who do not yet have training and experience in law enforcement, and the City sends them to a police academy (six months in duration). All Police Officers serve a probationary period including field training and observation, which is considered part of the testing of the individual’s skills and abilities to successfully function as a Police Officer.
As of the publishing of this staff report, the Police Department has two Police Officer vacancies, as well as a vacancy at the Police Sergeant and Police Captain rank, for a total of four sworn vacancies. Between July 1, 2021 though the present, the City hired ten lateral and four trainee candidates as well as the Police Chief.
Given the on-going challenges of recruiting and retaining Police Officers, the Mayor requested that we place on tonight’s agenda City Council consideration of additional Police Officer over-hires.
DISCUSSION:
Recruitment and staffing of the City’s public safety departments is the top priority for the City Council and City staff. While 15 sworn police positions have been hired in the past year and a quarter, there have also been 13 sworn employees leaving the City and four promotions to higher ranks, which has resulted in ongoing vacancies. Since July 2021, the Human Resources and Police Department have been working to establish ongoing and continuous testing and expedited hiring for both trainee and lateral/academy graduate Police Officer trainees. There are currently four sworn vacancies, and four candidates in the background process.
The Human Resources Department and Police Department have recently been in discussions regarding increasing the number of candidates the City places into the background process, including both trainees and lateral/academy graduates to have a continuous pipeline of candidates. In order to meet the goal of a fully staffed sworn police force, and the potential to over-hire to anticipate and get ahead of future vacancies, it is recommended that the new total sworn staffing number be set at 70 sworn police employees, including five over-hire Police Officers (51 total Police Officers). Due to vacancies and ongoing recruitment challenges, these additional Officers will not initially be incorporated into the permanent position allocation. Council approval and funding such positions will be requested when the positions are filled.
Therefore, it is recommended that the City Council authorize the over-hiring of up to five additional sworn Police employees on an ongoing basis.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.