There is a nationwide crisis with police departments not being able to recruit enough officers to be considered fully staffed. Cincinnati Police Chief Theresa Theetge said that the city’s police force hasn’t been fully staffed in years. Given that fact, it’s not surprising that Cincinnati neighborhoods are experiencing higher crime rates than in the past.
Over-the-Rhine has seen an increase in violent crime in the past month. The typical crimes reported include robberies, aggravated assaults, and homicides. These statistics repeat themselves across Cincinnati’s neighborhoods.
The main problem with police staffing appears to be twofold: recruitment and retention. As an educator, I am very familiar with these two obstacles. In education and law enforcement, salaries do not reflect the importance and the workload of each profession. This fact alone hinders recruitment, especially if you hope to raise a family.
With starting salaries posted at $77,000, these first responders face danger and uncertainty every day, and gone are the days of respect and gratitude from many of the citizens they protect and serve. It is extremely hard to recruit, especially in these turbulent times.
If a department is lucky enough to gain new officers, the job of retaining them becomes crucial. Officers are stretched thin trying to cover the city while grossly understaffed. The Cincinnati Police Department has been finding solutions that help lessen the burden by training civilian response teams to handle domestic violence calls. These trained social workers or therapists can relieve the burden when the call can be handled by talking and providing services, leaving the officers to handle extreme crimes and emergencies. These creative solutions are necessary while the recruitment process continues.
Recruiting the number of officers needed is going to require more incentives. Increasing pay would be a first step, followed by training that prepares officers to de-escalate whenever possible. Building partnerships with universities and military police departments to create a pipeline to the police force is also an important step.
Community relations must improve to the point that officers are not always considered a threat but a resource. Promote the good stories involving officers who have gone above and beyond their duty. The city may need to examine its policies for hiring and possibly modernize eligibility requirements.
There are many solutions available, and many of these ideas may have been tried already, but we cannot stop trying to solve this shortage, as it will eventually affect all of us.
Gary Favors lives in North Avondale.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police can’t protect Cincinnati if we can’t recruit and keep them on the job | Opinion
Reporting by Gary Favors / Cincinnati Enquirer
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