My significant other and I were sitting in the kitchen finishing up dinner as we listened to a reporter prepare us for a story about his department. The president of his police association stated the department was severely undermanned and it was a safety hazard for the officers. I try to keep up on current events in all aspects of my life but there are times when I’d rather not because it leads my mind to drift to where most of us who love someone who wears a badge would rather it not go. I wanted to know what was going on while at the same time I didn’t. Regardless, we listened.
The president stated that the department had been facing a staffing shortage since the economy tanked and a hiring freeze was put into place back in 2008. Even though a decade had gone by, the patrol billets remained unfilled and many of the detectives that had been pulled from their assignments and put on the street were still there. You can imagine the domino effect from that. The scariest thing was the idea that the department was supposed to be around 3,100 officers and was down below 2,900. Even more concerning to me was the statistic that the area where my SO worked had only 3 officers to patrol a population of 77,000. An area around 10 miles from the east to the west with only one access point from the east. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recommend 1.8 officers per 1,000 people. If my SO’s area was adequately staffed to these ratios there should be 138 officers. That is considerably more than 3. And any help that was coming in especially if they were deep west could be a long time out. This was the kind of information that I wish I could bury deep down so I didn’t have to add that to the realization that he already did a very dangerous job and each time he walks out that door, a part of me sits panicked until he walks back in again.
What was most interesting about the report was the reporter’s response. He basically questioned the accuracy of what the president was saying. After all, he was the head of the organization that represented officers which means it was his job to get more hired and get more benefits for them. As if that would taint his information. Instead, the reporter wanted to hear from the police chief or the head of the city. I had to keep from laughing out loud. It was the managers of the city that got my SO and his co-workers in this bind in the first place. It was these same managers whose policies drove so many of the seasoned officers and dispatchers to retire leaving even more gaps which they never filled. Precincts were patched together not only late at night but during the day so that one dispatcher was in charge of hundreds of officers at once. Tired, over-worked and stressed, they do their best while the city continues to allow this dangerous situation to get worse. I suppose you could argue that with fewer officers you need less talk groups and less dispatchers, but that would be missing the whole point.
After hearing this news report and thinking about how unbelievable this staffing shortage continued to be and how my SO’s department isn’t the only one around the country suffering from this same situation, I jumped into our truck and headed to the station with him. We had scheduled me to go on a ride along with him that night. I would get to see everything first hand. I sat in briefing as his sergeant told the group of men the status out on the street. A fatal accident, a shooting and 43 calls holding. Calls signs were distributed and everyone hit the street immediately. All dedicated patrol officers ready to face whatever they had to to protect and serve the city all that night. For the next 10 hours, we ran calls. We calmed disputes. We protected crime scenes. We patrolled dark alleys and quiet neighborhoods most of us wouldn’t walk around in during the day. I thought about how things were for my SO most nights. Sitting alone, facing the chaos, keeping the wolves at bay with less than the recommended support than he needed. Then he deserved. I asked myself when this had become acceptable. When had we as a community allowed those who protect us to be stripped down to below bare minimums? How long will we allow this to continue? How long before we hold those at the top responsible for making the decisions that will keep our loved ones safe and coming home at the end of their shift? It’s a shame and it’s time we spoke up.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
