Officials Hope Retired Officers Can Help Albany New York Police Department's Ranks

ALBANY, NY — The city wants to fill 10 open police officer positions with retired police officers in an attempt to address a consistent manpower shortage.

The Common Council is being asked to approve a transfer of funds to create 10 special patrol officer positions. Under the city's pay scale, those positions will pay between $62,350 and $89,230. A first-year city police officer makes just above $65,000 before overtime.

Department spokeswoman Megan Craft said any retired officers hired for the positions would need to receive a waiver from the state to also receive their pension while being paid a salary. Those waivers typically cover only one- to two-year periods but can be renewed.

The special patrol officers contingent "will be comprised of retired police officers who will be hired to handle our desk positions, community outreach, and youth engagement, to name a few specialties," Craft said in an email.

The department has struggled for years to hire enough officers to fill its open positions. At times, the number of vacancies has reached 90 officers and is currently around 70 officers. The constant shortage has led the department to frequently mandate that officers work back-to-back shifts, leading to burnout and younger officers transferring to other law enforcement agencies.

Alyson Baker, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Kathy Sheehan, said the officers hired for the new roles would be more akin to peace officers.

"This is one of a number of initiatives the Albany Police Department is undertaking to address the nationwide challenge of police recruitment and retention," she said in a statement. "This will free up sworn APD officers to be deployed more effectively throughout the city."

Mike Delano, president of the patrol officers' union, said the move comes in lieu of the city making an equal or substantial investment in existing officers to help with recruitment and retention.

"Good faith negotiations are currently ongoing with the city on this, and we will reserve our right to challenge any and all outsourcing of our work pending the outcome of those good faith negotiations," he said.

The city has tried various tactics over the years to refill its ranks, including starting a cadet program to introduce young people to law enforcement careers in the city.

Sheehan said the city had been exploring the use of retired officers to supplement the police department's diminished ranks for several years. She noted that Albany is among many city police departments facing recruitment and retention issues.

"Hopefully, as recruiting picks up and if we're able to solve this problem with sworn officers, then that's what we'll do. But we've got to do everything that's possible to address this issue because it's not fixable in six months or a year. This is a multiyear issue," she said.

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