To choke the flow of police officers leaving Detroit for other cities, City Council President Brenda Jones said today she is interested in an ordinance that would force departing police officers to reimburse the city for their training costs, which could amount to thousands of dollars. Thats ridiculous to lose officers weve trained -- and spent money on training -- to another city, Jones said at todays council meeting. Jones announced her proposal after hearing police Chief James Craig describe during todays council meeting his departments struggle to keep officers working in Detroit. Jones did not say how long a Detroit officer would have to stay in Detroit to avoid the financial penalty, nor did she say how much it costs the city to train a police officer. A police department representative told council the training fee was about $5,500 in the past. Craig said uncertainty created by the citys bankruptcy case and officers relatively low pay caused many of the departures. He said Detroit was losing 20-25 cops a month when the problem was at its worst. Big cities such as Houston and Atlanta have sent recruitment teams to Detroit, the chief said. Other Detroit cops have gone to local suburbs or joined Wayne State Universitys police force. Whats driving many officers to leave, candidly, is uncertainty about the future, pay, Craig told the city council during a scheduled appearance to update the body on the departments activities. The Detroit Police Department has about 1,800 police officers, Craig said. The entire departments workforce, including civilian workers, amounts to about 2,800 people. The department is working on getting as many of its workers as possible on the street fighting crime. Despite losing officers, Craig said the department has reduced overall crime in Detroit. Overall crime in Detroit is down 17% and homicides are down 14%, according to Craig. Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins said it makes sense for the city to ensure a return on its investment training police officers. When you go through the police academy were providing you with a set of skills specific to that job, Jenkins said. Detroit Police Officers Association President Mark Diaz was not immediately available for comment.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:28:32 +0000