'Losing people slowly:' Fraternal Order of Police says recruitment, retention are why BPD is short 300 officers
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Updated: 7:01 PM CDT May 16, 2024
I鈥橫 GUY RAWLINGS AND I鈥橫 BRITTANY DECKER, BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL O鈥橯UINN TELLING 米兰体育 13 YESTERDAY THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS DOWN 296 OFFICERS. IT鈥橲 A QUESTION WE鈥橵E BEEN TRYING TO GET THE POLICE TO ANSWER FOR YEARS. 米兰体育 13 AARON LLEWELLYN LIVE IN LOCAL TONIGHT OUTSIDE OF BPD NORTH PRECINCT. YOU鈥橰E TOLD THE DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN DEALING WITH STAFFING ISSUES FOR YEARS. AARON. YEAH. GUY BRITTANY. THE DEPARTMENT USUALLY LIKES TO KEEP THOSE NUMBERS UNDER WRAPS. OUT OF CONCERNS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY. BUT TODAY I TALKED TO THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE VICE PRESIDENT LAWRENCE BILLUPS, AND HE TELLS ME THAT RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT EFFORTS ARE THE REASON WHY THEY ARE SHORT STAFFED, BUT THEY鈥橰E WORKING ON A PLAN TO CHANGE THAT. FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE VICE PRESIDENT LAWRENCE BILLUPS SAYS THE STAFFING ISSUES BIRMINGHAM POLICE ARE FACING AREN鈥橳 JUST TO BPD PROBLEM. THE SHORTAGE OF OFFICERS WITH BPD IS BASICALLY THE SAME THING THAT鈥橲 GOING ON AROUND THE COUNTRY. THE JOB IS NOT AS ATTRACTIVE AS IT USED TO BE. UH, THE ECONOMY HAS CHANGED. CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL O鈥橯UINN TELLS 米兰体育 13 THE DEPARTMENT IS DOWN NEARLY 300 OFFICERS THAT COMES FROM A REPORT RELEASED IN APRIL. YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE SO MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO GO OTHER PLACES THAT WE ARE. WE HAVE TO GO OUT AND COMPETE A LOT HARDER THAN WE DID IN THE PAST, BILLUPS TELLS ME. THE DEPARTMENT HAS DEALT WITH STAFFING ISSUES OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS. SIX YEARS AGO, IT WAS FULLY STAFFED, BUT THERE鈥橲 BEEN SOME MOVEMENT WITHIN THE PAST FIVE YEARS. NOW, IN THE LAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS, THE DEPARTMENT SAW PEOPLE LEAVING AT A MUCH FASTER RATE. NOW WE鈥橰E AT A POSITION WHERE WE鈥橰E WE鈥橰E KIND OF HOLDING STEADY, BUT WE鈥橰E LOSING PEOPLE SLOWLY. BILLUPS SAYS THE DEPARTMENT SETS A GOAL OF 30 TO 35 RECRUITS IN THE ACADEMY, BUT THAT HASN鈥橳 BEEN HAPPENING. THEY HAD 20 PEOPLE IN THE CLASS AND I THINK THEY鈥橰E DOWN TO 18 RIGHT NOW, SO FROM WHAT I鈥橫 UNDERSTANDING, THEY鈥橰E A GOOD CROP OF 18 AND SO THEY鈥橰E PROBABLY END UP COMING THROUGH ONCE OFFICERS COME THROUGH THE ACADEMY, THE PAY AND BENEFITS CAN OFTEN BE AN ISSUE TO GET PEOPLE TO STAY. BPD USED TO RANK NUMBER ONE IN THE METRO AREA FOR OFFICER PAY, BUT THAT WAS UNTIL TWO OTHER DEPARTMENTS RAISED THEIR PAY SCALES IN THE PAST YEAR. WE MAKE GOOD MONEY. WE ACTUALLY DO. UH, COULD WE MAKE MORE? YES, WE ALWAYS CAN MAKE MORE. AND I THINK THE MAKING THEM MORE MONEY, THE BENEFIT PACKAGES CAN BE BETTER AND WITH THOSE COMPETITIVE CITIES LOOKING TO RECRUIT OFFICERS FROM BPD, BILLUPS HOPES THE DEPARTMENT WILL LOOK AT IMPROVING ITS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, THE EXPERIENCE, THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE鈥橰E STARTING TO LOSE, UH, YOU CAN NEVER REPLACE THAT. NOW. BPD PLANS TO BRING IN ANOTHER CLASS OF RECRUITS IN JUNE, BUT UNTIL THEN, THERE I鈥橫 TOLD THAT THE FOP WILL PLAN TO PRESENT A PROPOSAL FOR RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT EFFORTS TO BIRMINGHAM MAYOR RANDALL WOODFIN AND POLICE CHIEF SCOTT THURMOND.
'Losing people slowly:' Fraternal Order of Police says recruitment, retention are why BPD is short 300 officers
![米兰体育 logo]()
Updated: 7:01 PM CDT May 16, 2024
For the first time in years, 米兰体育 13 is learning just how many officers the Birmingham Police Department needs to be fully staffed. On Wednesday, city council president Darrell O鈥橯uinn said there are 725 budgeted positions in the department. In the last report O鈥橯uinn saw from April, he said nearly 300 positions were open. Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Lawrence Billups confirmed the numbers just a day later.In the past, Birmingham police was intentional about not telling the public how many officers it is down because of public safety concerns. But with the number of recent shootings and exhibition driving instances, many feel there needs to be more officers on the streets. The department claims that鈥檚 hard to do when it鈥檚 already short-staffed. But to get more officers to work with BPD, Billups feels the department has to make the job more attractive.鈥淭hey are going other places,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ther places are offering take-home car programs. Other places are offering more pay, offering cheaper insurance. We鈥檝e got to look at it as a department. What can we give these guys and girls that they want to come and be a part of this organization?鈥滲illipus said Birmingham used to rank number one for officer pay, but two other departments raised their pay scales within the past year. Now, BPD has fallen to number three. The department is still offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus, but the FOP also noticed other departments are coming to BPD to recruit officers 鈥� making keeping officers on the force even harder.鈥淭hey pull those officers even from the sheriff鈥檚 department,鈥� Billups said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e one of the only departments around here that actually does recruitment, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 kind of hurting us is that because we have to recruit other departments only have to wait and then they start pulling officers from Birmingham.鈥滲illups said FOP is working on a proposal for better recruitment and retention. It plans to present that plan to Mayor Randall Woodfin and Chief Scott Thurmond soon.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — For the first time in years, 米兰体育 13 is learning just how many officers the Birmingham Police Department needs to be fully staffed. On Wednesday, city council president Darrell O鈥橯uinn said there are 725 budgeted positions in the department. In the last report O鈥橯uinn saw from April, he said nearly 300 positions were open. Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Lawrence Billups confirmed the numbers just a day later.
In the past, Birmingham police was intentional about not telling the public how many officers it is down because of public safety concerns. But with the number of recent shootings and exhibition driving instances, many feel there needs to be more officers on the streets. The department claims that鈥檚 hard to do when it鈥檚 already short-staffed. But to get more officers to work with BPD, Billups feels the department has to make the job more attractive.
鈥淭hey are going other places,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ther places are offering take-home car programs. Other places are offering more pay, offering cheaper insurance. We鈥檝e got to look at it as a department. What can we give these guys and girls that they want to come and be a part of this organization?鈥�
Billipus said Birmingham used to rank number one for officer pay, but two other departments raised their pay scales within the past year. Now, BPD has fallen to number three. The department is still offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus, but the FOP also noticed other departments are coming to BPD to recruit officers 鈥� making keeping officers on the force even harder.
鈥淭hey pull those officers even from the sheriff鈥檚 department,鈥� Billups said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e one of the only departments around here that actually does recruitment, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 kind of hurting us is that because we have to recruit other departments only have to wait and then they start pulling officers from Birmingham.鈥�
Billups said FOP is working on a proposal for better recruitment and retention. It plans to present that plan to Mayor Randall Woodfin and Chief Scott Thurmond soon.
