There’s no debating, Baltimore City is grappling with a worsening officer shortage. But when you compare just how many officers the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) says they’re down, to how many the police union says they’re down, the numbers don’t add up.
While the BPD says they have 500 officer vacancies, the police union claims they’re actually 700 short.
Circling back to a 2020 consent decree hearing, a federal judge called the department’s staffing levels “critical.” U.S. Chief District Judge James Bredar saying, “I’m serving notice that the Court is alarmed and, you know, pulling the fire alarm. This is, this is the patient bleeding out.” Bredar went on to specify that the BPD needs “at least 2,800 officers” to be fully staffed. At the time, the department had about 2500 officers.
Flash forward to today, the department has only dwindled, reaching a record low of 2100 officers. 700 officers short of what’s been recommended and 200 more than what the BPD is claiming.
In a statement to FOX45, police union president Mike Mancuso accuses the BPD of “deceiving the public.” “This message is not transparent at all!” Mancuso wrote in part, “This brings us to the very ineffective and low-ball attempt by the city to recruit new officers.”
When asked to explain the discrepancy, the department said, “Our number is based off of budget. The BPD is budgeted for 2604 sworn members.”
“I don’t think that to downplay the numbers is a desire not to hire,” said Law enforcement expert and former FBI agent Tyrone Powers.
According to Powers, there’s a reason the BPD may be skewing the stats.
“First of all, you don’t want the public to have anxiety and fears. Secondly, you don’t want the criminal element who might be looking at those numbers to feel like they’re more opportunities,” he said.
Regardless of the exact number, BPD is still significantly understaffed at a time crime is projected to climb.
Ahead of the anticipated summer crime surge, Mancuso says, “We are going into the summer months and our officers are already exhausted due to canceled days off and forced daily overtime. The BPD preaches “health and wellness” but in reality, they could care less about our officers’ well-being. If they did, they would be doing everything possible to retain as well as recruit. This summer you will have the brave men and women of the BPD working double shifts with no days off to try and keep our citizens and visitors safe.”
When asked how the BPD is preparing to tackle the pending summer crime surge amid record low staffing, they replied, “While we cannot comment on something that has not happened, I can share with you that the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) recognizes the seasonality and the challenge in the different tempo that the summer months and holidays may present in addressing crime. Not only do we adjust crime and deployment strategies frequently, but each district produces weekly and quarterly deployment plans to optimize the use of all available resources. There are broad plans but they also incorporate special initiatives that direct our resources more effectively to address short term trends without shifting our focus on longer term issues.”
The following is Mancuso’s full statement on the matter:
Police Commissioner Harrison continues to deceive the public by stating that the Baltimore Police Department is 450 police officer short. This message is not transparent at all! That number actually represents the funded vacancies that exist within the BPD. That is not the number of officers needed to police Baltimore. Judge Bredar is the judge charged with overseeing the Consent Decree in Baltimore. He is a federal judge who, at the January 2020 Consent Decree hearing, told PC Harrison in open court that the actual number of officers needed to police this city was 2,800 to possibly 3,000. Currently Baltimore has about 2,100 sworn members. If you add PC Harrison’s 450 funded vacancies to that you get 2,550 officers. Judge Bredar believes the number should be 2,800 to 3,000, with which FOP3 agrees. So that leaves the BPD at least 700 officers short of what is needed to effectively police this city.
This brings us to the very ineffective and low-ball attempt by the city to recruit new officers. The incentive package for recruitment is low compared to the 5 major Police Departments with which we compete for recruits. As far as a retention package goes, absolutely none exists. Major Police Departments around the country are offering retirement eligible officers tens of thousands of dollars to stay a few extra years until their agencies can catch up on the recruiting end. The BPD does absolutely nothing while our veteran officers continue to leave. This means decades of experience is going out the door, leaving officers with little time in the department to do the training of new officers.
All of which leaves us with a violent city and a critically short-staffed Police Department. We are going into the summer months and our officers are already exhausted due to canceled days off and forced daily overtime. The BPD preaches “health and wellness” but in reality, they could care less about our officers’ well-being. If they did, they would be doing everything possible to retain as well as recruit. This summer you will have the brave men and women of the BPD working double shifts with no days off to try and keep our citizens and visitors safe. Remember though, tired employees in any business tend to make mistakes and errors in judgement that for a law enforcement officer can be devastating. Any negative events that occur should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Scott and Police Commissioner Harrison. Baltimore has a full calendar of events planned for the warmer months and they will have a very difficult time filling the spots needed to ensure that the public is safe.
