Cleveland Police Department down 274 officers, according to budget

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The city of Cleveland is experiencing a critical shortage of police officers, sparking massive amounts of overtime to be paid to the department.

As of mid-September 2023, nearly half of the city’s $40 million in overtime has been spent on the Cleveland Police Department alone.

“I’m sick to my stomach about that,” said Ward 1 Council Member Joseph Jones.

During Cleveland’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday, it was announced that the CPD is currently down hundreds of officers, compared to what the department was budgeted for in 2023.

Jones said $40 million is 400 more, additional police officers.

Jones says as the police numbers continue to drop — crime in his neighborhood continues shooting up.

As of mid-September, the CPD has racked up nearly $20 million in overtime. Despite this, Jones says he hasn’t seen many boots on the ground.

“We don’t have that right now, we’re nowhere near close,” said Jones. “So, if I can’t see you, if I can’t touch you, then you don’t exist.”

Jones said that while officers may be patrolling certain pockets of the city — they’re not policing areas where they’re needed the most.

“What I’m seeing out here in the neighborhood is just a total blatant disrespect, walk over our neighborhood kind of atmosphere,” said Jones. “If we have you out there visible it will make that difference.”

During the Public Safety Committee meeting, outside law enforcement agencies discussed their latest efforts to help CPD beef up its patrols. However, that’s only a temporary fix.

“This is not a sustainable solution, sustainable long-term permanent solution to be relying on outside help,” said Ward 17 Council Member Charles Slife.

But outside help is just what Cleveland needs right now. According to the CPD, the department was budgeted to staff 1,498 officers this year.

Since January, it lost 128 officers, and has only managed to hire 28.

“Right now, each of the districts in the City of Cleveland has two patrolling cars, we need to have six patrolling cars in a district, if not eight, for traffic enforcement alone,” said Jones.

The CPD recently launched an aggressive recruiting campaign. Officials say that since that time, they’ve received 277 applications — but 98 of those candidates were dismissed because they didn’t meet state requirements.

Jones says the council is exploring numerous ways to help fund the police department, while working on efforts to retain the officers the department currently has.

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