Vice Mayor O’Brien and other subcommittee members asked Phoenix Police Department staff on Oct. 1 for additional recruitment and attrition data to clarify hiring trends and whether the city is processing applicants quickly enough to retain recruits.

Vice Mayor O’Brien said she had requested year-over-year attrition rates dating back to 2020 and could not find prior reports on the city website. “I would like it included in the report, from 2020 going forward so that we can see how we’re doing as attrition,” she said.

A city staff member responding to the question said the department plans to include attrition data from 2020 to the present in the next presentation or report and that process timelines for applicants would be provided by the December meeting. “We are planning to include the 2020 to present attrition data in the next presentation,” the staff member said. The staff member added the team intends to present applicant process timelines and related staffing actions at the next briefing.

Councilmembers also noted the increase in recruitment applications—about 450 per month on average—and asked whether staffing and background-check capacity can process applicants fast enough to avoid losing candidates to other agencies. Staff said they will aim to document process timelines in future reports and include historical attrition data.