The Hillsdale Police Department may hire a new full-time officer in coming months, pending budget approval from the city council, according to Chief of Police Scott Hephner.
If the council fulfills the request, the department will total —- staff members. With the extra hands, Hephner said the force will be able to focus on actually preventing crime rather than just responding to calls.
The police department decreased in staff, and has remained understaffed for close eight years. Hephner has requested backup several years in a row now, with no result.
I have made more of a push this time, but I didn’t just say I want the officer,” Hephner said.
“I went through and did a full financial review of the budget and looked through things that could be moved or pushed. There’s room.”
This year the city council and Mayor Adam Stockford have made fitting the additional officer into the budget a priority, according to Stockford.
The Public Safety Committee has also supported the request. Now the decision rests in the hands of the city manager who, by charter, dictates personnel decisions.
Both Hephner and Stockford agree that the council has responded affirmatively this time around in part, because of the increase in violent crime in Hillsdale County.
“The police are the biggest part of the budget and they are a great force, but we have seen an increase in violent crime in the last year and people are concerned,” Stockford said.
Violent crime has increased in the county in lockstep with methamphetamine usage. Hephner said that they are obviously related, and pose a problem for the department.
As it is staffed now, the officers are constantly on call. Each officer works a 12-hour shift, but often officers need to step-up and fill an over-time gap. They end up working 18 hours straight, then taking only 6 hours off before returning to duty for another 12-hour shift.
Working understaffed means that the department only has time to answer calls. Hephner hopes that with another full time officer, they can begin data driven enforcement. They will have extra officers to patrol high crime areas and begin preventing crime rather than only responding to crimes that have already taken place.
“The more people you have working, the more data driven enforcement can take place,” Hephner said.
The department has already interviewed potential officer candidates, so pending budget approval, a new officer could begin working as early as next month. However, if the city council decides to wait until the natural end of the Police Department’s fiscal calendar, Hephner and his team may have to continue without backup until July.