Cuts hinder hiring of police

If the Salt Lake Police Department can't hire new applicants in July because of budget restraints, the city may have up to 30 fewer officers patrolling the streets by the end of the year under a worst case scenario.

If that happens, residents might see slower officer response times and less police presence to deter crime.

That was one of the messages from Chief Chris Burbank in the first installment of his new YouTube segment "Ask the Chief," which aims to establish more open lines of communication with the community.

Twice a year, the city police department sorts through applications of potential new officers, hires a group and sends them to the police academy before they become full-time members of the department.

In January, the department was not able to hire a new class of recruits because of budget reductions. If that happens again in July, it could be down more than two dozen officers by the end of the year through attrition.

"We were down about 50 officers when (I was hired)," Burbank said. "Now my fear is we're going to slip into that again. Hopefully we don't lose too many between now and July."

Burbank said he worked hard to fill those vacancies when he became chief. There are currently 16 vacancies due to January's hiring delay. The force usually operates with an average of 10 open spots, Burbank said.

If the department is forced to wait until next January to hire, it will still take 18 months to two years before those recruits are properly trained and ready for full-time duty.

The challenge with running a police department from a budget standpoint is it's driven by personnel cost, Burbank said. The department is authorized to have 433 sworn officers and 161 civilians. As of Friday, they were down six to 10 civilian positions.

The civilian positions, in areas such as dispatch, records and crime lab, are already at a minimum and are essential positions, Burbank said. He has already cut back or delayed purchasing many of the tools police use to do their jobs, including computers and modems.

Street officers are most likely to be affected by a reduction in staff.

"In the past, the police department has carried vacancies and carried it in patrol. But that is a disservice to our patrol officers and to our city. They are the ones who respond first. They are responsible for proactive reduction of crime. They are the most visible to the public," Burbank said.

It's impossible to measure the impact patrol officers have in deterring crime simply by their presence or how much they reduce the impact of a crime by being in an area and responding quickly, he said.

"My priority is to maintain the number of officers out on the street responding to calls," he said. "When somebody calls police it's really important to me to respond in a timely fashion."

Being down that many officers would also prevent the department from conducting as many big operations as it has in the past, such as drug sweeps in and around Pioneer Park.

Unlike the controversy surrounding last year's vote over a new public safety building, there isn't anyone who is opposed to putting more officers on the street.

"It's not a matter of anyone saying, 'That's a bad idea.' It's just a budget question now. Is there enough money?" Burbank said. "I don't know if I'd say I'm confident (that the new applicants will be hired in July). I feel like I have good support."

E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com