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Fraternal Order of Police, councilmember propose funding for lateral police academy to address officer losses
Summary
A Fraternal Order of Police speaker said the city lost 92 officers last year and urged funding for a lateral police class; Council member Walsh proposed $2 million in her amendment to add roughly 30 lateral officers.
A representative of the Fraternal Order of Police told the Budget and Finance Committee the city should fund a lateral police class to bring experienced officers onto the street quickly after the force lost officers last year.
Ken Cobar, identified as representing the Fraternal Order of Police, said the department “lost 92 officers last year to retirements, to resignations.” He told the committee lateral recruits “have training, that have experience, that we can get on the streets in a matter of 8 to 10 weeks,” and urged the council to fund the class.
Council member Tamika Walsh (presenting her council amendment) proposed using budget adjustments to fund a lateral class. Walsh told the committee that “for $2,000,000 ... we can actually add 30 additional police officers to the to our force,” a figure she placed in her list of proposed uses.
Vice Chair Johnson also referenced the need to preserve public-safety staffing and said a lateral class could help stabilize manpower, noting regionwide pension and retirement changes have shifted officer availability across neighboring jurisdictions.
The lateral class and other public-safety proposals were raised as part of council members’ individual amendment presentations; no final appropriation for a lateral academy was adopted at the committee meeting. Any funding would be decided when council members consolidate their amendments into a single budget package ahead of the council’s June 30 deadline.
