Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin has proposed the city should freeze the hiring of new police officers as they wait for the outcome of a hiring audit.
“It makes sense to take pause to make sure, to find out where our glaring holes are and what we can do better before we start adding more folks to the rank,” Hardin argued.
That pause could impact more than just Columbus.
Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus said he's worked hard to make sure Columbus Division of Police recruit classes are diverse.
The class that just graduated is said to be the most diverse class the academy has held.
“If we aren't hiring officers, we are not improving diversity,” Pettus said.
Officers are leaving faster than the department is hiring. 115 officers left the division last year. Compare that to 81 the year before.
“It's not just retirements I'm talking about. We have individuals that are leaving the division with five years on. They are not retiring, they are taking other jobs elsewhere,” Columbus Police Deputy Chief Jennifer Knight said.
This comes at a time when violence is at record levels.
“The June class will not solve any issue this year. They don't graduate until the end of this year or be on the streets until early next year,” Knight said.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther's office sent a statement saying: "Mayor Ginther is respectfully asking Council to reconsider the amendment that would cut the June class. He will do everything in his power to seat the class in June."
Recruits from all across central Ohio train to be police officers at the Columbus Police Academy. Now, departments are scrambling, waiting to see if there will be a class in June.
A spokesperson from Gahanna said: "The cancellation of a class will result in a very long delay in bringing new non-certified officers on board. Police hiring for replacement staffing is essential to the overall health of any agency. "
“There's been so much good work done around reform. There's been so much good work done within the division for reform. To add more folks while we are in this transition period didn't make sense to me,” Hardin said.
“It's going to have an adverse impact if we can't convince city council to change or modify their position on this,” Pettus said.
Ginther does not have line-item veto power, meaning if the council passes the pause on a recruiting class as a part of the budget, the mayor's only options are to approve or veto the whole budget.
“We would very humbly and respectfully plead with them to take it into consideration and reconsider their decision,” Pettus said.
Council is scheduled to take up the vote on Monday. Hardin said he is still looking to hear from the community.