While the D.C. City Council responded to the public outcry over recent slayings by approving a plan to add 450 officers to the District police force, it’ll take several years before all the new police hit the streets.
With the city under a 30-day crime emergency, the council agreed last week to increase the size of its police force from 3,800 to 4,250 officers at a cost of about $28 million.
First off, it’ll take time to find the new hires. And the money to pay them has not been allocated.
Between attrition, recruiting and training, Chief Charles Ramsey said the department can add about 100 new officers in a year. The department loses about 230 officers each year to attrition and, in 2004, the last time the department increased its size by 100 officers, the District was able to hire 327, said Assistant Chief Shannon Cockett.
Labor union chief Kristopher Baumann said the hiring will take longer to beef up the force because officers are leaving over moralle problems. Baumann said Washington’s numbers are inaccurate.
Mayor Anthony Williams has asked the council to relax a law that requires new police hires to have 60 semester hours of college credit. The requirement disqualifies about 55 percent of its applicants, Cockett said.
Potential hires have to go through a months-long background check. Those approved are sent to the 24-week police academy to enroll in classes, each of about 25 recruits. The academy sometimes holds up to a dozen classes on campus at the same time, according to Cmdr. Cheryl Pendergast, director of training.
The council has only approved money for 100 officers. Adding the other 350 officers depends on whether the district will have a revenue in future years.
