By not increasing the funding for the Greensboro Police Department (GPD), the City Council is stealthily defunding the police.
The GPD has a huge vacancy problem, but the solution is simple – money.
The GPD was the only department in the city that was cut during the budget process this year and it was cut by $1 million. Raises in the GPD have not kept up with raises, not just in peer cities but in much smaller cities in North Carolina.
Yet the City Council recently dumped $59.4 million in American Rescue Plan money in its general fund, so the city has an excess of money.
If the City Council wants to solve the problem, it should raise police salaries above most jurisdictions in the state so that those seeking a job in law enforcement will consider applying to Greensboro.
The bottom line is Greensboro has a huge deficit in sworn officers because the salaries and benefits in Greensboro are not competitive with the market. It’s the law of supply and demand. Currently the demand for police officers is high and the supply is low. You might say that it is a police recruits market.
Plus, Greensboro has to pay more to attract officers because Greensboro is a more difficult place for police officers to work. We have more crime than smaller cities and we have more and more vocal police protestors. In addition, the City Council has a well-deserved reputation for not supporting police officers who were just doing their jobs. When the protestors come around or somebody files a lawsuit, the City Council caves. The City Council can’t change the past, and that well-deserved reputation is going to cost the taxpayers money, because police officers are going to have to be paid more to come work in the anti-police environment the City Council has created.
But the City Council can change the future and support the GPD not just with adequate funding but also by standing behind the police officers who handled a difficult situation to the best of their ability and in compliance with their training and the law.
The GPD has 108 vacancies in sworn officers. That means the department is authorized to have 691 sworn officers and it has 583.
Interim Police Chief Teresa Biffle recently told the City Council that the problem is getting worse, not better. The GPD will have at most 27 new officers on the streets in the next year, but during the same time will lose about 60 officers, most to retirement.
The responses to recruitment efforts are nowhere near what they once were. People aren’t applying for jobs with the GPD and the Greensboro Police Academy classes – which need to be in the 30s just for the GPD to stop the bleeding and are in the teens or worse. From the last Police Academy class to graduate there are currently 12 officers in field training. To maintain the current level of sworn officers there should be 30 or more in field training and more than 30 in the current Police Academy class, which now has 15. And, as Biffle warned the City Council, that number is expected to drop before graduation.
The City Council also has to spend the money to provide police officers with take-home patrol cars. This is considered a major perk by police officers, and whether the City Council thinks it’s necessary or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that not having take-home cars keeps many interested in a career in law enforcement from considering Greensboro. With the $59.4 million in ARP money, the City Council could easily pay for perks like take-home police cars.
Along with raising the base pay for all officers the city also needs to offer incentives equal or above what other cities are offering. If Greensboro wants police officers with college degrees, it has to pay those officers more because they will get paid more by other cities.
Another option is for the City Council to continue doing what it has been doing, which is not much. And in a couple of years, instead of having a deficit of 108 police officers Greensboro will have a deficit of 216 police officers – or it could be much higher because at some point there will be a snowball effect and police officers will be resigning in droves because they can’t handle the working conditions.
It’s the City Council’s choice, spend the money to fix the problem or ignore it and let it continue to get worse.
The stupid people in this city get what they voted for. This council will not do anything to resolve this issue and as you state in the last part of your piece, it will only get worse. This city is going down the tubes.
This is what happens when Democrats are in charge.
It takes about 2 years to recruit , train and get a qualified officer on the street. Greensboro is so far behind the curve it will take a decade or more to correct this situation.Recruitment classes are getting smaller and smaller and a lower percentage of candidates or graduating. The answer is quite simple. Have the mayor and assistant manager and every member of the city council fill a vacant spot on the police force. Not for just A-day or a photo op but until a qualified officer It’s on the street to take their place. Until you make this problem their problem they don’t care. The police pay is low and the perks are few but the danger is quite high. Quit paying exorbitant amounts for community based Cure the violence programs. Put more officers on the street and cure the violence. Let the police chief do his job without interference from the council. This administration and the council are a detriment to Greensboro. They always promise something better in the future but it never materializes. They will continue to kick the can down the road And leave the correction of the problem to the next administration. People never seem to realize the problem until it’s too late. Take a look around at lawlessness in other cities. This did not happen overnight but was a slow progression into chaos. THINK!!!
John, you are so right. Money and support are the answer. One without the other will not work. A law enforcement officer puts his life on the line every day. They put their future and that of their family in harms way every time they take an action to protect us. Law suits are devastating to their future and their families. When they feel they will not be protected and backed by their leadership and the government they work for, why take the chance or the job. The county has a similar problem in the area of leadership. Deputies and detention officers do not feel supported and backed up.. As for take home cars. A car in a neighborhood is a deterrent to crime. They also give longer service and are better cared for when they are a single officers responsibility.
Greensboro PD was one of the best agencies in the US a couple of decades ago. The city council has, for many years, chipped away at it. What they don’t see is that it cost either way. You pay for a good police agency or, you pay with destruction, civil suits and your reputation. Greensboro is setting it’s self up for some awful times. Watch and see.
Another great article John. Sadly the majority of voters in the city and county are far left “thinkers” and it is well known the city is run by East Greensboro. So all get what the voters continue to put into office…waste, fraud, ignorance and stupidity. You get what you vote for and there will be little or no improvement in the city much less the school system. Yes sir, I am working on moving as there is nothing being offered but higher taxes, same old waste and fraud, same old council members living off of tax payer money. Negative comments..yes. Do I see positive change and a future..no. I see the same old bull as a standard operating procedure.
Thank you for telling it like it is. The City Council is terribly at fault. Instead of their pet projects, they need to put the money where it is really needed to protect the safety of our citizens in Greensboro.
Well said Mr. Hammer, unfortunately it makes perfect sense and sense of any kind is lacking in the City Council.
God bless and help the City of Greensboro these next four years.
This is pure stupid… digging ourselves a deeper and deeper hole …..
Instead of a new police chief, an experienced law enforcement individual under a two year contract without city council interference should be engaged to tackle the growing crime problem in Greensboro. Afterward a new chief can take charge.
There are experienced individuals who can step into such a role and get results. Simply hiring another chief who is dictated by city council does not bring crime solutions any closer than they are today. It’s time to think out of the box.
To address a growing crime problem, instead of hiring a new chief who will be dictated by city council, hire a contractor for two to three years who attack the crime problem head on and get results. A new chief can be hired after crime is brought under control.
Yes,, we need more good policemen and it is a demanding, dangerous job More of the funds could be garnered for this protection by greatly increasing the fines for the offenders. The large number of drunk drivers, speeders, not using correct signals, going through yellow lights, passing stopped school busses need to be stopped. The offenders should pay for the services, not innocent tax payers. This increase could put more officers in the most needed areas and possibly deter some of the law breakers.
15% across the board will come close but they’ll never say they were wrong. Other cities this year did mid to upper teen percent raises with better benefits. If we don’t lose at least 5 of the (best) new recruits to other agencies then these other agencies need to look at their recruiting strategy.
Jamiah Waterman has preached for 15 years his goal was to shoot for a 50% average in law enforcement pay and he basically nailed it. He was told repeatedly what would happen if he did, and we nailed it. The city council also can’t have the police department get anything extra from any other department or it isn’t fair.
They want a bilingual, college educated, mature, experienced, crisis trained superhero but want to pay for the most basic employee. You can’t have it both ways. That person they want with all that life experience and knowledge should be smart enough to not come here.
It’s going to get really bad-I mean really, really bad around here.
I can tell you 100% that the city only has to do two things to keep and attract new Officers. One is to give permanent take home cars and not phased it but rather buy them outfit them and then hand them out. Some companies can have them ready is 6 months. The other thing the city can do it raise the pay. If the city does that then you will see a flood in applicants AND you will see less Officers leaving for other agencies that Offer those two things. Until those two things are achieved you’ll keep seeing officer leave.
If the write in-votes for a 3rd candidate had not been cast in the previous election, Justin would be the mayor. This city council is woefully short on competence and vision. They are more concerned with pouring more money into their pet “non-profits” which in turn get the vote out to keep these social workers in office. See how this works?
Guess what? In four years, the people in Greensboro and Guilford County too, will re-elect these same thieves to continue to line their own pockets so they can have their own police protection and not worry about ours.
Greensboro citizens get what they deserve. Shame on them for letting my birthplace disintegrate into this collective waste of a city. I suggest everyone move out now and let the “people on the plantation” continue to vote these thieves in office deal with it.
Good article John, yes, Greensboro’s Police Department should be paid more. There is an additional problem that is causing a shortage in the department, the hiring process. An applicant can submit an outstanding application, pass the physical and testing they conduct at Fire Station 1. Their physiological exam can be approved, the background checks and interviews can all go well. They get recommend for hire; but, there is something like a citizens review board or something that must accept the applicant before they can be hired. Which has the most experience in choosing a good applicant, the police department or a review board having non-law enforcement personnel? Just what is their problem about not wanting people with military training? I have been told that applicants with combat experience and prior law enforcement officers that have been involved in a shooting will not be hired. A lot of the problem is asinine people in the hiring process.