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Columbia to convert airport and parks safety staff to sworn police assignments amid hiring challenges

5472946 · July 14, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

City officials said four park positions and two airport safety positions will become sworn police positions in FY26 so they fall under the police chief's chain of command and pension plan; staff cited hiring and supervision challenges for the change.

Columbia officials told the City Council that several park and airport safety positions will be reclassified as sworn police officer assignments to improve supervision, align pension coverage and address persistent hiring difficulties.

What staff proposed Budget staff and the police department presented a plan to make four park safety positions and two airport safety positions into sworn police officer positions and to treat them as specialized police assignments similar to school resource officers or detectives. Chief leadership said post-certified employees must be…

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