CLEVELAND — Mayor Justin Bibb has announced that he proposes to amend a city ordinance in hopes of raising the maximum age for Cleveland Police officer candidates.
According to a statement from the Bibb administration, the maximum age would be raised to 55 years old. Currently, the age is capped at 40.
Monday's announcement is the last component of the mayor's RISE Initiative. The initiative was announced this summer to address the high levels of crime and address staffing shortages within the Cleveland Police Department. As of Oct. 30, the department was short 301 officers.
Cleveland Chief Director of Public Safety Karrie Howard told News 5 that increasing the maximum age for Cleveland police candidates will have an impact in generating more badly needed police candidates.
“It allows us to widen the pool of potential applicants, creating a greater opportunity for citizens who want to serve our great city," Howard said. “The benefits of that is you’re getting someone who is very mature; they bring life experiences, they can deal appropriately with situations.”
Cleveland police union President Jeff Follmer told News 5 he believes the city administration is heading in the right direction in trying to solve the officer shortage, but said older police candidates who either have or don't have prior law enforcement experience will still have to go through rigorous physical and mental testing and training.
“But if you are going to come here between 40 and 55, you’ve got to realize you’re going to the streets of Cleveland, you’re going to a patrol car, so you’ve got to be ready physically and mentally," Follmer said. “Everybody has to be looked at medically if they can do the job out there. If somebody needs a knee replacement or shoulder surgery, they’re not hired. This isn’t a place to get your surgery done; this is something to help make the streets safe and help our guys.”
Follmer told News 5 that recent police wage increases will help with city police recruitment issues.
“When you look at some of the exit interviews, some of the officers that left the city, wages were a big thing, going against the suburbs, other cities pay a lot more,” Follmer said. “So now I think we have a great wage package coming in here, and bonuses that within five years you’re getting almost to $85,000.”
Both Follmer and Cleveland Safety Committee Chair Michael Polensek agree raising the maximum applicant age to 55 won't solve the Cleveland police officer shortage.
Polensek said the city must do more to attract more qualified police applicants because, so far, he believes the city hasn't done a good job hiring more officers.
“Raising the maximum police candidate age seems like a move of desperation at this point, which is of great concern to us because we’re all asking the same question: 'What are they actually doing to hire police officers?'" Polensek said. “That’s what’s missing here; we can’t figure out why we have all these people applying for the police department, and yet they’re not being hired. The administration was supposed to hire 180 officers this year; how many did they hire, 28."
Still, Howard believes the city is on the right track, announcing there will be a three-day police hiring event starting on Dec. 15, with details being released in the coming days.
“For this event, someone can come in at 8 in the morning, they can fill out the application, they can take the test, they can accomplish many of the things that they need to gain employment, and they can leave at the end of the day with a precondition offer with the Cleveland Division of Police," Howard said. "People interested in joining our team or finding out more information about hiring requirements may contact our Recruitment Team via social media or by calling 216-623-5233."
RELATED: Dangerously Understaffed
Meanwhile, Mayor Justin Bibb gave his own statement on the effort to improve Cleveland police recruitment.
“Solving multilayered problems requires multipronged approaches, which involves historic investments, leveraging partnerships, and updating policy – all key components of my RISE Initiative announced less than four months ago,” said Mayor Bibb. “This latest amendment will help attract additional candidates to join our police force who may have previously not considered doing so. We’re hopeful this change, combined with other recent actions my Administration has taken, will help improve our overall recruitment efforts within our Division of Police.”
Earlier this month, we told you just how bad the shortage was as of the end of October. News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson reported on a grant given by the U.S. Department of Justice to help put a dent in the officer shortage. The grant would give the City of Cleveland $3.75 million to help hire 30.
Watch the full story here:
