CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Police Department could face a crisis in the near future. The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police said 250 police officers are eligible to retire next year and the city has already lost 45 of them this year alone. The city has a new recruiting class, but the numbers are falling well short of what they wanted.
CPD confirmed to WCPO Monday there are 33 people in this current police academy, but the city wanted to have 54 recruits. On the department's website, the job posting says a police recruit starts off making $39,887.26 annually, but the person is eligible to make between $68,501.81-83,570.20 annually, once they complete the academy, graduate and accept a position with CPD.
"People are turning away from law enforcement as a career so less and less people take the test and as a result, less and less people are truly qualified to take the ranks," said Dan Hils, FOP president.
Hils said low pay is just one factor in why the city can't completely fill its latest recruiting class. He said many officers he speaks to feel they do not have the support of the city.
"I've been around for more than 35 years — more than 35 years — and this right now at this moment is the lowest I've ever seen morale and it has to do with the way that the police are being treated, the way they're being micromanaged," said Hils.
One example Hils noted was the criticism CPD received for how officers treated a teenager selling water in June. Police said they were responding to complaints about teenagers standing in the street and throwing bottles at cars.
Body camera footage shows the moment officers first spoke with the teens through the moment an officer took one teen into custody. The then city manager, John Curp, called the incident an "important learning opportunity for the police department."
"We do have something that is financially advantageous for us to stick around our deferred retirement plan, but I get told every day by more and more people, I'm not interested in the deferred retirement plan, it is becoming too stressful, they're putting too much on us I'm out of here," Hils said.
WCPO learned the new city manager, Sheryl Long, is preparing to address some of these concerns to Cincinnati City Council as part of her first 60 days in office. One of the proposals Long will present is raising the starting recruits' pay to $25 an hour, as well as offering $2,000 signing bonuses if the person graduates and takes a position with CPD.
Long also wants to propose a similar sign-on bonus to other officers who come to work with CPD from other departments.
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