Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro met with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, along with area police chiefs, on Tuesday to discuss an ongoing problem: a historic shortage of police officers, reported WHYY-FM.
“The fact is, and we see this, fewer young people
are deciding to make law enforcement their career,” Shapiro said. “That’s a
problem. And it’s going to lead to long-term negative consequences in our
communities.”
Pennsylvania as a whole currently has 1,229 vacant
police positions across the state.
In Philadelphia, Commissioner Outlaw said, a
combination of staff shortages and rising
crime have worn police increasingly thin.
In 2015, the Philadelphia Police Department had
approximately 6,600 sworn officers and 800 civilian personnel — that’s well
above this year’s staffing numbers with 5,900 sworn officers and 600 civilian
personnel.
In an attempt to triage the situation, Outlaw said,
the PPD has been shifting officers from special units and administrative
assignments to patrol duties in an effort to increase police presence in crime
hotspots.
“But the truth is these efforts are just pulling
from the same diminishing pool of resources,” Outlaw said, adding that they
need more detectives to investigate cases — but they also need patrol officers
to aid in preventing crime.
“To put it plainly, we’re just robbing Peter to pay
Paul,” she said, “We know that rapidly increasing caseloads and reduced
staffing equals lower case clearance rates, and lower clearance rates aren’t
just about numbers or percentages. We’re talking about finding justice for
victims and bringing closure to loved ones. It’s about healing our communities
and about living freely without fear.”
Shapiro added that staff shortages have had a
detrimental effect on police departments’ ability to build crucial
relationships with the communities they work with — forcing officers to choose
between walking their beat or engaging with the community in ways that help
build confidence and trust.
“And that confidence really matters because having
it leads to more tips from the public, more cooperation in solving crime, and
it leads, importantly, to safer streets,” Shapiro said.
In the closed-door meeting with local police leaders
that preceded public remarks, Shapiro said they discussed the origin of the
problem, and possible solutions.
“It’s not just pay or pay differences or the
inability to pay a competitive wage,” Shapiro said. “Oftentimes, would-be
applicants are choosing not to apply because police feel beaten down in our
communities.”
He called for elected officials and the media to
express stronger support for law enforcement, along with funding to invest in
recruitment, training for officers, crisis intervention teams, and mental
health units to work with the police. Shapiro also suggested incentives, like
$6,000 signing bonuses for new officers in Pennsylvania, and $1,200 “hero pay”
to keep existing officers on their beat.
“Unfortunately, it has not moved in Harrisburg,”
Shapiro said. “It’s time for Democrats and Republicans to come together and
invest in policing here in Pennsylvania. I want to hire 1,000 new police
officers in the Commonwealth right away. We have the funds to do that. We have
the leadership that wants to do it. It’s time for the politicians to act.”
In response to questions about how the effort jibes
with ongoing calls to defund the police, Outlaw took a balanced stance.
“We have to swing the pendulum back,” she said. “We
have to let folks know that these are not either/or conversations. We can be
supportive of the police and hold us accountable at the same time. They’re not
mutually exclusive.”
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