PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As Philadelphia's gun violence crisis rages on, there are also fewer police officers on the streets. City leaders say their efforts to recruit have been hindered by a recently passed bill.
Some officers are retiring, some are leaving for other jobs, and there are roadblocks to get new recruits trained, according to Mayor Jim Kenney.
"It's difficult to recruit people into this profession, into this environment. People who have the opportunity to do other things now tend to do other things," he said.
Recently, City Council passed a bill requiring police recruits to live in Philadelphia for a year before they apply to the department.
"The bill that Council passed is going to hamper our ability to go nationwide to the military, to historic Black colleges and universities," Kenney said.
He and Commissioner Danielle Outlaw speculated the nationwide dialogue over policing in the last year may also be a factor.
"Officers have gone through a very difficult time in the last year, plus," he said. "Many of them have decided not to do this job anymore."
In addition, Outlaw said, the department doesn't have the same number of budgeted police officer positions it did a year ago.
"While some folks may say we weren't defunded, our authorized strength quite frankly isn't what it was. And it was because our authorized strength wasn't restored during this last cycle," Outlaw said.
Right now, there are just over 6,100 sworn police officers. That number, which includes those in the field as well as command and organizationial staff, is lower than usual. Recently, the department had as many as 6,700. Outlaw said the department is trying to work with potential recruits to pass the exam.
"For example, if people have struggles or challenges with the physical portion of that, we are partnering with the local YMCAs to help people on the front end get in shape," she said.
"We were losing a lot of people on the reading test, and so we recognized early on that we had to work with them via workshops to help them prepare for that test."
Outlaw contends residents still want more cops on the street as a possible tactic to prevent violence.
"We have individuals saying, and rightfully so, they want to see us more, but not necessarily recognizing that we don't have the same numbers to work with," she said.
The starting salary for a Philadelphia police officer is about $58,000.
