CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Division of Police's newest class of recruits is the smallest the city has seen in decades, highlighting a yearslong struggle to attract new officers to a dwindling police force.
"It’s disheartening," said Cleveland Police Captain James O’Malley, "because this is a good career."
O’Malley has been with the department for 27 years. He said the current class of nine recruits is the smallest he’s seen and even smaller compared to the number of officers Cleveland needs.
"The city of Cleveland is 77 square miles, and if someone calls the police, they want the police there," he said. "You have to have bodies to do that. You have to have community engagement. You have to have CIT officers — crisis intervention officers. These all take bodies."
O’Malley also serves as the president of Cleveland’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 8, which represents the department’s police supervisors. He said the CDP is short more than 50 supervisors and nearly 230 patrol officers.
He added that the best that the division can do to meet demand is to hold on to officers for 16-hour shifts.
O’Malley believes several factors have contributed to the decline over the years, including the vilification of police officers across the country, the scrutiny officers face from multiple oversight boards and agencies, and low pay.
“It’s kind of like a sports team. If you want to have the best players out there, you got to pay for the best players. Protecting citizens is expensive,” he said.
Cleveland City Council recently approved a budget that included money for 180 additional officers, according to Councilman Mike Polensek.
“Everything we’ve been asked to do as a council, we’ve done it,” he said.
Polensek said he wasn’t surprised to see the low number of recruits because the last graduating class had just 13 officers. The shortage has been a problem for years and Polensek said it’s now up to the current administration under Mayor Justin Bibb to come up with a recruitment plan before it gets worse.
Polensek said the police force is “not even treading water at the point," with staffing levels that look more like the year 1923.
“I’ve never experienced it before. I’ve never seen it before,” he said of the low numbers. “No one alive in this city today has ever experienced this situation.”
The situation has the potential to get worse soon. Polensek said 200 members of the police force are eligible for retirement.
“We are going to be in a difficult situation come midsummer,” he said.
“Is the city doing enough? I don’t know,” said Capt. O’Malley. “I guess time will tell if the strategies they’ve put in place will be enough.”
Either way, he said the men and women of the Cleveland Division of Police will continue to do their best to protect the city.
“Cleveland police officers are extremely dedicated to this city,” O’Malley said. “They’ve given their lives, they’ve been wounded, they’ve been injured protecting the citizens.”