The Kent Police Department spends an average of $120,000 to $160,000 in overtime costs each month because it has been unable to keep staffing at a full level as well as unexpected costs from high-profile crimes.
“Our overtime is a lot,” Thomas said in response to a question from Councilman Bill Boyce at an Oct. 21 council budget workshop. “This year has been a tough year with injuries, retirements and we had that significant officer-involved shooting over the summer. We had a couple of significant crimes, the double homicide. Each one of those instances brings up a significant amount of overtime.”
Police shot a man to death in July after the man opened fire at officers. Then in August police arrested a man for investigation of shooting and killing two Shell service station employees.
Thomas said four officers need to be hired for vacancies to reach the 138-officer capacity. He said approximately 23 officers are not yet on the street because they are in training or at the police academy in Burien.
“They’re going against our budget, we’re paying them, but they are not actively out on the street enforcing the laws and keeping our community safe,” Thomas said. “That creates mandatory overtime to meet our minimum staffing to keep the streets safe. So we are averaging over $120,000 to $160,000 a month in overtime.”
Boyce responded to Thomas that is too much overtime for officers in order for them to perform at a top level. He said he heard a radio report that recent break-ins at the White House could be happening because of overworked Secret Service staff. He doesn’t want overworked officers to cause any problems in Kent.
“They made it clear that there were tired officers who were overworked,” Boyce said. “When you have those things on a police force, you can start slipping. We’re not slipping yet but when I see we are not maintaining the staffing level that brings great concern to me. We are nowhere near what we talked about (for staffing).”
Thomas wants to add two more patrol officers to his staff in each of the next two years under a 2015-16 budget proposal he presented to the council. Mayor Suzette Cooke included an extra $300,000 for personnel in each of the next two years for the police department in her budget proposal last month to the council. Cooke didn’t designate how those funds would be spent on personnel, leaving it up to Thomas and his staff.
Thomas told the council at its workshop that $222,037 would be used to hire two officers, $36,450 for Taser replacements, $22,600 for ballistic vest replacements and $12,000 for vehicle pursuit equipment and training.
Thomas said he would like to add as many as four officers in each of the next two years in an effort to get patrol staff up to 160 officers from the 138 who now patrol the city of more than 120,000 people.
“It was council initiative that we talked about a staffing plan for 160 officers and a plan of adding an additional four officers for each of the next several years until we reach 160 in 2017 or 2018,” Thomas said. “The most significant unfunded need of the police department is to remain consistent with the council’s Public Safety Committee staffing plan of continuing that steady increase of personnel until reaching 160 officers.”
Council President Dana Ralph said additional hires should bring overtime costs down.
“I feel like adding the officers now there would be savings in the overtime,” Ralph said. “And I have the same concerns (as Boyce) that at some point you could only have so many people working so many hours. We have a plan and I think it’s imperative that we continue to look at that plan.”
Thomas cautioned the council it could take awhile for overtime hours to drop even with more staff.
“I don’t want to mislead the council,” Thomas said. “It will be moneysaving but we may not realize it immediately because of the training. We have at least six officers still waiting to attend the academy then it’s the five-month academy and training afterwards. We will realize a reduction but I don’t want to mislead you that it will happen tomorrow.”
Ralph said that’s the reason hires need to be made sooner rather than later.
“By not saying today we need them it just kicks it further and further down the road,” Ralph said.
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