CLEVELAND — Over the past ten years Rob Render, has seen his Cleveland Buckeye neighborhood cope with escalating crime, making Cleveland's ongoing police staffing shortage an even bigger safety issue as we head into this summer.
Render told News 5 that officer staffing issues have made it harder for Cleveland's fourth district to keep up with basic patrols in his community, and he hopes the city will take action as soon as possible to bolster its police recruitment effort.
“You know you can’t recruit now, this is a national problem, so this is not unique to Cleveland," Render said. “We’re left short, woefully short in terms of our manpower; the traffic division is almost gutted. They’re traveling 75, 80 miles an hour because there’s not enough traffic officers to go out and monitor this. Even on our streets, I see people going the wrong way, they’re speeding.”
Cleveland Safety Committee Chair and Ward Councilman Michael Polensek told News 5 that police staffing has now dropped to a level not seen since 1923.
“And what was the big issue in 1923? Gambling — and I could assure you they weren’t carjacking Model Ts either in 1923," Polensek said. “These days, we're dealing with the calls for gunshots being fired in some neighborhoods, the car thefts, the increase in car thefts throughout the entire city, the violence that we're seeing in some neighborhoods.”
Polensek said the number of Cleveland police officers has now dropped below 1,300, and said former Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told the safety committee the city really needs 1,700 officers to operate the department properly.
Polensek said he spoke with Mayor Justin Bibb about Cleveland Police staffing issues last week and said he and other city council members are still waiting for the mayor to release his police recruitment marketing plan in the coming weeks. Polensek proposed a $10,000 hiring bonus for all of the new 180 officers the city council budgeted for in 2023, hoping it would attract badly-needed officer candidates.
“I’m looking at the big picture, if you don’t supply the hiring bonuses and you don’t give the retention bonuses, which they were told they were going to get and they haven’t received, you’re faced with an exodus and an exodus that you’re not going to be able to stop," Polensek said. “We’ve got to think of something different, because if not, we’re not going to be competitive.”
Polensek told News 5 that police recruitment has been an uphill battle, with fewer than 20 cadets graduating in the last police class and only nine cadets in the current class.
The Bibb Administration responded to News 5 and said it's hoping its police recruitment marketing plan will be released to the city council this summer. The Mayor's office issued the following statement:
As the mayor said in the state of the city, recruitment is a major area of focus for our police this year. Our Division of Police is always considering how to improve the recruiting and hiring process.
Meanwhile, Render said the City of Cleveland can't address the ongoing officer shortage soon enough.
“You got to think out of the box," Render said. "Is it a $10,000 signing bonus? Is it $15,000? Are we going to pay for your education? To me, you’ve got to do whatever is necessary, within reason.”
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