Des Moines’ looming budget gap may mean cuts to the Des Moines Police Department, even as officers say they’re stretched too thin with inadequate staffing and an increasing workload.
The city’s police officers say Des Moines already has an insufficient number of officers to meet city needs, and any cuts would make matters worse.
Des Moines expects a $12 million deficit in its budget for fiscal year 2028, and leaders are weighing how to fill the gap, reflecting a new law that caps local governments’ revenue growth at 2%.
The Des Moines Police Department could face cuts of up to $3.27 million, according to the city’s budget savings calculator. If that reduction is ultimately approved, the department could see reductions to its neighborhood outreach services, the elimination of the department’s police activity league for youth and the loss of up to six officers, as well as up to six investigators.
The department is operating under an $86 million budget for fiscal year 2026, according to the city’s budget book. The city is looking to allocate about $89 million for the Des Moines Police Department in fiscal year 2027, an increase that does not account for inflation, Sgt. Paul Parizek, Des Moines Police spokesperson, previously told the Register. A $3.27 million cut would equate to about a 3-4% trim of the police budget.
Police have become “masters of doing more with less,” but the proposed changes could affect essential services and public safety, Parizek said.
A letter the department’s union leaders, Joseph Leo and Theodore Stroope, as well as the department’s burial association leader Mathieu Dahlen, sent to city officials, says “calls for service have increased, officer responsibilities have expanded, and overtime has increased by thousands of hours.”
Proposed reductions in police services come as the department is “already operating at well below recommended staffing levels,” the letter said.
“You can’t compromise public safety. You just can’t,” Parizek said. “We can’t keep running our officers into the ground.”
Des Moines Police already struggling with staffing issues
The Des Moines Police Department’s approved number of sworn officers has not increased since 1976, according to a report from the police department. The city had about 20,000 fewer residents in 1976.
The larger Des Moines metro has also grown, adding almost 500,000 residents.
As a hub of entertainment and employment, the entire metro’s growth adds to the need for more police services in Des Moines, the department’s report said.
“We’ve been working at bare minimums for so long,” Parizek said. “Overtime shouldn’t be a staffing solution. Every single day there’s posted overtime. It wears on officers physically and mentally. It’s the potential for burnout.”
Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders did not respond to the Register’s request for comment. He is expected to share a proposed budget, including any police department cuts, at the Des Moines City Council meeting on Aug. 26.
It will then be up to the Des Moines City Council to decide on any action.
Workload studies show DMPD needs more officers
About 60% of a police department’s workforce should be dedicated to patrol, according to the International Cities/Counties Management Association. About 60% of patrol officers’ time should be spent responding to emergent calls, with the remainder in proactive policing.
The Des Moines Police Department doesn’t meet either measure, the department’s report said. Just 51%, or 193 of its 375 sworn officers, are allocated to patrol. About 80% of those officers’ time is spent responding to emergent calls, exceeding the recommended limit of 16 hours out of 24 any given day.
Internal tabulations from the police department provided to the Register show 60% of officers on patrol are typically unavailable to respond to calls because they’re already on one.
“If you spend any time at all listening to the scanner, how many times do you hear one of our dispatchers say, ‘Can any officer break to take a priority call?’ It happens all day long,” Parizek said.
And on average, there are about 20 officers on patrol per hour, about 14 fewer than recommended by a study from Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Justice.
A workload study by the management association, applied to the Des Moines Police Department, indicates that, accounting for service allocation, workload and service times, the department needs 80 more officers, with 48 specifically designated for patrol. At a minimum, the department would need 32 additional officers assigned to patrol, according to the report.
The study by Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Justice said the department would need about 36 more officers.
In the department’s first strategic plan, Chief Michael McTaggart proposed adding 10 officers by 2030. Instead, budget constraints call for possible eliminations and reductions of services.
“We’re not saying we need 80 cops right now,” Parizek said. “We’re just saying that’s the scope of the problem. And if we take another step backwards, it’s just going to make things worse.”
Eliminating investigative positions would “mean larger caseloads, delayed investigations, reduced victim services, and fewer resources available when major incidents demand an immediate response,” according to the unions’ letter.
“We’ll do what we have to do,” Parizek said. “We can assure people that if you call 911, there’s somebody’s gonna answer the phone, and if you need us to come to your home, somebody’s gonna come to your home. We can’t guarantee you that it’s going to be as fast as you want. We can’t guarantee you that you’re going to get the level of service that a fully staffed police department would provide.”
What happens if neighborhood outreach services are reduced?
The Des Moines Police Department’s Neighborhood-Based Delivery outreach services now employ 14 officers to serve neighborhoods, the skywalk, a Mobile Crisis Unit and to act as liaisons to underrepresented communities.
“One of the priorities for the police department has been connecting with our neighborhoods, to check in with our diverse neighborhoods and connecting with people who really, truly need some extra services,” Parizek said. “It’s helping build those relationships.”
The success of the department’s strategic plan hinges on community outreach and patrol shifts in dedicated neighborhoods.
The neighborhood “officers represent community policing at its best,” the union and burial association’s letter said. “They attend neighborhood meetings, build relationships with residents and businesses, assist vulnerable populations, and work proactively to solve problems before they become larger public safety concerns.”
Reducing neighborhood outreach services would save $1.32 million, according to the city’s budget savings calculator. Eliminating the outreach service’s Police Activity League, which provides after-school programs and summer camps for Des Moines youth, would trim another $150,000.
The neighborhood policing effort is among the last of the department’s services that can be cut without risking cutting essential services like 911 call response and investigation, Parizek said.
“Public safety should not be judged solely by its cost,” the letter said. “It should also be measured by what the community stands to lose when police staffing is reduced. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.”
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines police warn city’s budget cuts may push department to limit
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
