Police chief says shortfall no cause for worry
By John Joyce
Published in News on August 24, 2014 1:50 AM
Goldsboro police Chief Jeff Stewart says that although city police officers have been busy this year -- 28 people have been shot in the city since January -- a manpower shortage has in no way affected the department's ability to keep the peace.
Goldsboro police officers also have responded to more than 290 reports of shots fired since the beginning of 2014 -- and that number is growing. The department is answering those calls with fewer and fewer officers.
Over the last few months, there have been as many as 12 vacancies at one time, mostly on the patrol side, within the department. The current number of vacancies stands at 7.
Stewart attributes the staffing deficits to the ebbs and flows of any industry, with retirements, officers relocating and some simply deciding the career was "just not for them."
The bulk of the department is made up of officers with between 5 and 10 years experience -- 32 officers have 5 years and 33 have 10 years or fewer. Only 13 officers have served 20 or more years.
With the vacancies, supervisors have had to keep a watchful eye when scheduling their officers' duty assignments, Stewart said.
"What the supervisors really had to be careful on was when officers had to be in court or on vacation, things like that," he said.
On average, 15 to 17 patrol officers are on duty on a given shift.
Yet Stewart maintains the reduced number of officers had no impact on the department's ability to respond to or to investigate what it recently called a "rash of shootings plaguing Goldsboro."
"None at all," he said.
And to prove it, Stewart pointed to all the recent "extra" functions at which police officers have been present.
GPD has three new officers going through field training, along with three more scheduled to graduate from the police academy this month.
One more potential officer is in the hiring process now, brining the current manpower deficit to five patrol officers and two investigators.
"Hiring a new police officer is like when you hire somebody to work in an office," Stewart said.
The process takes up to three months when factoring in the interview process and background checks.
Goldsboro City Manager Scott Stevens said the city's recent pay study showed Goldsboro police officers' pay is on par with surrounding cities and agencies.
"We just completed a pay and classification study that showed our pay ranges are competitive. A draw to working for the Goldsboro Police Department is that we have a committed group of well-trained officers," Stevens said.
Both Stewart and Stevens agreed that turnover and vacancies within the police department are not uncommon to this or any other municipality.
"Historically we tend to have higher turnover (and) more vacancies when the economy is doing well and less turnover and (fewer) vacancies when the economy is not doing well," Stevens said.
"Cops are people, too. They need a place to work," Stewart said.